Few Days and Full of Trouble

Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. Job 14:1

I am thankful for the Bible's frank embrace of our earthly realities: there is no denial of suffering, no minimizing our pain and trouble in the pages of Scripture. We are never asked to pretend that things are better than they are. Biblical faith is no call to close our eyes to the ugliness and hardness of life.

Nor are we called to "bottle it up," and though it is true that we can sinfully complain of our condition, we are never asked to put up a stiff upper lip in the face of our suffering. The Psalms are full of godly men bringing their complaints to God, as Job does here, and we should do the same.

But, thank God, Scripture doesn't stop at our suffering, either. The Bible is both realistic and hopeful, something that sets our faith and religion apart from many others. For though it is true that "Man . . . is of few day and full of trouble," yet it is also true that there is an end to our suffering, and that "the Lord is very pitiful and full of mercy" (Jam. 5:11). Indeed, God meets us in Jesus Christ as we trust in him with "tender mercy" (Luke 1:78).

Today, let us therefore not read the heart of our Father God in our troubles, for they do not exhaust his purposes toward us neither do they point us to our ultimate destination, which is in a New Heaven and New Earth in which there will be no more tears and no more death, and where God himself will be our God and we will be his people and see his blessed face for ever and ever (Rev. 21:1-4).