LXVI...From Garden to City

So yesterday, our church started a church-wide campaign to read throught the Bible together. They called it LXVI: From Garden to City (fromgardentocity.com). Anyway, today's reading was Job 1-3. I’ve always hated the book of Job. We have this tendency to think that God has our (my) best interests always at heart…and Job is the biggest example of what a load of crap that is. The book kind of highlights what I see as a petty nature to what is almost a game between God and Satan. Job 3 is one of the most depressing chapters in the Bible (and it's a game!), but this is going on all the time, right? This is the biblical example of bad things happening to good people…and basically it’s all about God (it’s not about us!). Anyway, Job mirrors the behavior of a person that’s completely in touch with God and in-line with the fact that we exist to revel in him…not the other way around. I definitely have difficulty with people who lose a child or are going through some horrible time and keep the Christian happy talk going…so not there myself. But Job, in chapter 3, basically says ‘this sucks…I wish I’d never been born’…but I love the rest of his reaction in 1:21 and 2:10. He said “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord…Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” Love that perspective even though it would be so hard to keep…especially with our western mindset that God is all about making my life better. How shallow would God be if was just the genie that we have in mind when we go to church…when we have our occasional prayer? I still hate the book of Job…but I love it too.