約伯的質問
約伯記三章1至6節、16及26節
1此後，約伯開口咒詛自己的生日，
2說：
3“願我生的那日和說懷了男胎的那夜都滅沒。
4願那日變為黑暗；願神不從上面尋找它，願亮光不照於其上。
5願黑暗和死蔭索取那日，願密雲停在其上，願日蝕恐嚇它。
6願那夜被幽暗奪取，不在年中的日子同樂，也不入月中的數目。
16或像隱而未現、不到期而落的胎，歸於無有，如同未見光的嬰孩。
26我不得安逸，不得平靜，也不得安息，卻有患難來到。”
信息分享
當我們繼續讀下去，發現約伯的態度經常轉變，情緒異常複雜，時而持定信心，時而軟弱怨懟，就像我們遇到災難時的反應一樣，我們不該覺得有任何奇怪。
約伯有時因強烈的自憐自艾而發出痛苦的呼喊，有時又因堅定信心的亮光，照亮整個生命。自憐的聲音總是在追問：「為何偏偏發生在我的身上？而不是其他人。」答案總是像約伯所言：「但願我從沒有出生做人。」請看他在第六章1至6節說的話。
可是，當他持定信心的時候，他的話語卻崇高超脫，那是信心的聲音。在他與朋友的對答中，當他論及神對這一切事情的心意時，他的答案是：「我知道我所行的路，他試煉之後，我必如精金。」（二十三10）。約伯的意思是說：「我的生命經過試煉之後，會比之前更加有價值。」彼得也說過這個道理：「你們的信心既被試驗，就比那被火試驗，仍然能壞的金子更顯寶貴。」（彼前一7）
你若把約伯與三個朋友的對答全部讀完，你便會發覺約伯雖有質疑，卻一直相信神。他不明白受苦的意義和目的，也沒有我們今天有的認識，但他的話卻包括了一句美好的信心宣言：「他必殺我，我卻在祂裡面有指望。」（十三15英譯本中譯）
經歷苦難的時候，自憐是最差的反應，它是病人康複的真正障礙。它不能夠榮耀神，基督徒在任何環境中都不應如此。
我們今天比約伯幸運得多，我們擁有整部聖經，知道基督已為我們降世受死；我們深深經歷過神的大愛。難道我們不能更多信靠祂麼？求主今天並以後的每天幫助堅固我們。
THE QUESTIONS JOB ASKED
Job 3: 1-6 & 16, 26
1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
2 And Job spoke, and said:
3 “May the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”
Message
Job’s attitude varies as we go through this book. There is a strange mixture, very like our own re-actions at times. We don’t have to be schizophrenic to be a mixture of faith and failure.
Sometimes Job cried out from the depths of self-pity, yet at times his life was brilliantly lit up with wonderful flashes of strong faith. The voice of self-pity always asks, “Why has this happened to me?
It doesn’t happen to anyone else.” As Job said “I wish I’d never been born”. Look at his words in chapter 6, verse 1-6.
In Job’s best moments his words were magnificent. There was the voice of faith. In the midst of questioning as to where God was in all this, Job said, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me I will come forth as gold.”(23:10) In other words, Job was saying, “When I have been tested I will be more valuable than ever before.” Peter said that in his epistle - Trials come so that our faith (of greater worth than gold) may be proved genuine.
If you were to read all that Job said in dialogue with his friends, you would see him questioning but believing. He couldn’t see beyond his suffering. He didn’t know what we know, but his finest words include this statement, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (13:15).
Self-pity is one of the worst reactions to suffering. It can be a real hindrance to the patient’s recovery. It dishonours God and is wrong for a Christian in any circumstances.
Today we have so much more than Job had. We have the whole Bible. We know of Christ’s life and death. We know the love of God for us all. Why don’t we trust Him more? Can we ask God to help us do that today and each day?