Job 03: I Gots the Blues

What happens when life's sorrows seem too immense to bear? Join us on this emotionally charged episode of the Bible Breakdown Podcast as we explore Job 3, aptly titled "Job's Blues." Pastor Brandon guides us through Job's heart-wrenching lament, where he curses the day of his birth in the face of overwhelming loss and suffering. Through the poignant Hebrew poetry of "I Got's the Blues," we unravel Job's deep despair, examining how his raw expression of grief serves as a window into the struggle to comprehend God's wisdom during life's darkest moments. This episode underscores the importance of acknowledging our feelings when adversity strikes, offering insights into how we might navigate our own seasons of suffering.

In our follow-up chapter, "Finding Hope in the Midst," we shift our focus to the theme of perseverance. Despite his profound despair, Job's enduring faith reminds us that it’s okay to not be okay and that holding onto hope is crucial even when it seems out of reach. Pastor Brandon encourages listeners to embrace their struggles while maintaining faith, highlighting the power of prayer and reflection in finding solace. Tune in to learn how Job’s story can inspire us to trust in God's presence during our toughest times and discover how faithfulness can pave the way to a brighter tomorrow.

Contact us- 

Ask a Question
Send Encouragement

Take a Next Step-

SOAP Bible Study Method.
Bible Reading Plan.
Free Weekly Newsletter.

Socials-

Facebook.
Instagram.
X.
YouTube.

The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

Well, hello everybody.

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, job, chapter 3. Today's title is I Got's the Blues. I Got's the Blues and all that's going to hopefully make sense in just a moment. We're going to encounter Hebrew poetry at its finest and we need an interpreter a little bit here. We'll get into that in just a moment. But, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you're also joining us at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. They do such an amazing job there every day. And if you would like to receive an email every week on Saturday with my favorite Bible breakdown of the week, my favorite takeaway and also, as I'm studying and looking at stuff, some of my favorite links to articles and YouTube videos, I have a free newsletter I send out every Saturday morning and you can go to brandoncannoncom and subscribe to that for free. I would love to send that to you every day, as we're just continuing to try to just fill your life with as much of God's Word as you can, because, man, the more we dig, the more we find. Well, if you have your Bible.

Speaker 1 1:01

I want to open it with me to Job, chapter 3. I want to remind you, number one, that the overall theme of Job is we have this opportunity to grapple with the idea of trusting God's wisdom and suffering. Trusting God's wisdom and suffering. In chapter 1, we learned about how God's doing things behind the scenes that we don't always know and we may not ever know on this side of eternity which spoiler alert, by the way Job is never told by God about the conversation that happened between God and the devil. He doesn't know, and I think that that's so very important, because there's times we're going to go through things and we kind of could see this in chapter one we're not always going to know the full story, and that's when we start asking the question what do we do when we encounter bad things? Well then, chapter two we talked about yesterday was how God sees more in us than we see in ourselves, and so when that happens, what do we do when we don't know? And then, as a friend, how do we first encounter someone who's going through a difficult time, and they're asking the question I don't know why this bad thing is happening? Well, today, now we're gonna see. What do you say when you encounter the worst thing ever. Job has lost his stuff, he's lost his family, he's lost his health and he's still holding on to God. But it's still okay to say I don't understand and I'm so unhappy about what's going on. But here's the challenge. So get ready to dive into this.

Speaker 1 2:21

If you remember, we said right before chapter one Job is what's considered Hebrew poetry. Now, poetry in English has a certain meter, which is like a certain cadence to it, has certain rhyme and different things, and all this, and in Hebrew, much the same way. But when you translate something from one language to the next, it loses a little bit of that. So, as we're reading, you're going to see how Job is going to say things, but he's going to say things in kind of a flowery sort of way and all this kind of stuff. But understand that it's intended to be poetry and so, whereas some of that's been lost, you still get the idea and that's why I wanted to go ahead and give you the synopsis. The synopsis of everything he's about to say is I gots the blues, I'm sad is basically what he's going to say. So, if you're ready, we're going to read chapter 3 together and the bottom line is he's got the sats. Okay, here we go.

Speaker 1 3:11

Verse 1 of chapter 3 says this At last, job spoke and he cursed the day of his birth. He said Let the day of my birth be erased and the night I was conceived. Let that day of my birth be erased and the night I was conceived, let that day be turned into darkness. Let it be lost even to God on high and let no light shine on it. Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own. Let a black cloud overshadow it and let the darkness terrify it. Let that night be blotted off the calendar, never again to be counted among the days of the year, never again to appear among the months. Let the night be childless and let it have no joy. Let those who are experts at cursing, those who cursing could rouse Leviathan, curse that day. Let its morning stars remain dark and let it hope for light, but in vain. May it never see the morning light. In other words, dude, I'm so sad I was born. I wish I'd never been born. That's basically what he just said, right, verse 11.

Speaker 1 4:20

Lord, help us. Why was I laid on my mother's lap? Why did she nurse me at her breasts. Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace, I would be asleep and at rest. I would rest with the world's kings and prime ministers whose great buildings now lie in ruins. I would rest with princes rich in gold whose palaces are filled with silver. Why wasn't I buried like a stillborn child, like a baby who never lives to see the light? For in death, the wicked cause no trouble and the weary are at rest. Even captives are at ease in death, with no guards to curse them. Rich and poor are both there, and the slave is free from his master. Lord, help us. Why is life given to those with no future, those God has surrounded with difficulties? I cannot eat for sighing. My groans pour out like water. What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come true. I have no peace, no quietness, I have no rest. Only trouble comes. Wow, now you get.

Speaker 1 5:48

When I said, the bottom line is he's got the sats. He's saying I got the blues. But if you think about it for a moment, you feel so sorry for Job. He even says what I always feared has happened to me. For Job, he even says what I always feared has happened to me. In other words, you see, in chapter one the Bible said that after his sons and daughters would feast, and all this, he would offer sacrifices for them for fear they had cursed God. So there was always this in the back of his mind God, you've blessed me so much, I'm afraid. What if you take it away? What if the worst happens? Afraid, what if you take it away? What if the worst happens? And now he's saying the worst has happened. Do you know? I think that's so important for all of us because many of us we suffer more in our imagination than in reality. We suffer the what ifs of life what, what could happen, what, what might happen only to realize I heard someone say one time 90% of the things that you worry about are never going to happen anyway. Of the last 10%, 8% of it you have no control over. Only 2% do you have control over, to which, if you are a chronic worrier, you go. Oh no, there's 2%, but this was part of that 8%. Job had no control over what happened. But you know what's amazing, even when the worst happens, job's going to be okay. Job is going to make it. Now he's going to have a real long conversation with a bunch of jerks, which we'll get into later, but God ends up doing something amazing in Job's life a little later on, and so I want to encourage you with this today.

Finding Hope in the Midst

Speaker 1 7:20

Why do bad things happen to good people? Probably because there's things going on that we don't always know, but we can trust the Lord, we can trust him. And Even when the worst happens Because, honestly, the worst happening is not that we die Now. I don't want anyone to die, especially before they're old and full of days, right, but the worst to happen to us is not to die, because if we die, we go to heaven. The worst to happen for many of us is to lose everything we have and to still linger on. But if the worst happens, like happened to Job, it's still going to be okay Because God is with us, and if you've got God with you, it's going to be okay.

Speaker 1 8:04

It's easy to say it's hard to do, isn't it, but still true. And if you're in that moment and the worst has happened, job has just given us permission to not be okay. It's okay to not be okay. It's okay to say God, I would rather not have even been born, god, I'd rather for none of this to ever happen. It's okay to go to God and to say I'm not okay. It's just not okay to give up. And none of this does Job give up and I would encourage you don't give up, because even if the worst happens, god is still with you.

Speaker 1 8:36

Let's pray. Don't give up, because even if the worst happens, god is still with you. Let's pray, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you for your word. One of the things I love about your word, god, is it doesn't shy away from anything. You're so faithful and, lord, I pray for maybe someone who is listening to this today or watching this and the worst has happened, the worst thing they can imagine.

Speaker 1 8:56

The doctor's report came back, the situation with their child actually happened. The thing with their job actually happened. The thing with their spouse actually happened Just the worst thing ever. God, I pray you will help them, even in that dark, dark valley. Help them to look up and to realize they're still here and it's okay to maybe even wish that wasn't true, but to realize that because they're still here, that means that you are still working in their life and because you're still working in their life, there is a better tomorrow coming. Sometimes the only thing we can do is simply not give up. Sometimes, the greatest act of faith is faithfulness. I pray, god, that you will encourage them today. In Jesus name, we pray, amen, amen. What do we do when the worst happens? What do we say? Job 1, verse 21 says I came naked from my mother's womb. I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and he has taken it away.