In this life, there are times when we feel like leaves tossed about in the midst of a storm. Like a leaf without control, we are chased by the winds of fate that we cannot escape. In our weakness and suffering, we may feel alienated from God, as if He were hiding, not hearing the cry of our hearts. In times like these, we ask ourselves: is all this we experience the result of our sin, or is there a deeper reason that we cannot understand?

Job, in his great suffering, not only asked for the reason behind his suffering, but also sought to understand the state of his relationship with God, which seemed to have drifted away from him. Again, in these verses, he appeals to God with hope, wanting an answer to his struggle. “Only do not do to me these two things,” Job begs, “withdraw your hand from me.” In this passage, Job is not asking God to take away his suffering, but to restore the relationship that has become distant because of his suffering. He longs for God’s real presence and desires that communication with Him be unbroken. Job then asked God to reveal all his sins. His request was none other than because he felt innocent, but with humility he still opened up space for the possibility that there was hidden sin in his life. In his ignorance, he sought the truth with a sincere heart.

At the end of his series of defenses, Job ended his statement with a reflection on human mortality, "People are fragile like rotten wood, like moth-eaten cloth!" Job realized how fragile human life is. Humans, with all their ambitions and pride, are ultimately just like fallen leaves, clothes that are worn out by time. He reminded us that everything we have and fight for in this world is temporary. However, in that mortality, there is a call to live with wisdom and sincerity before God.

Bible friends, are there any of us right now, feeling adrift by suffering that we do not understand? So, like Job, let us strive to continue to seek and listen to God's voice, open to the various possibilities that we do not understand. Through Job we also learn to maintain closeness to Him, even though suffering comes one after another. This is a valuable piece of advice, because we often tend to avoid God when something we don't want happens in our lives.