Being Transparent

 

    Being transparent is hard.  It is walking around in a sense naked.  Life is more honest when lived transparently, but it leaves a person open for reticule, other people's opinions thrusted upon you, and many more unwanted things.  At the same time it can make it where people feel close you.  It can open doors.  It takes real work to live a transparent life.  When people attack, it is hard not to shut down or put up walls.  

    Job was attacked by Satan.  He did nothing to invite or cause the attack other than live a righteous life.  You would think that life would be simpler when you follow God.  It never occurs to some people that you are inviting Satan to come at you and hard.

    Job was in a miserable state and no one can blame him for his feelings about it.  His friends had been with him for a week in silence and I think this is the point everyone realized that Job was not going to die from this infliction, he was just going to be horrifically miserable.  It was time to vent and get some things off his chest in hopes to be able to breath a little easier.

    Job never cursed God or turned from Him, but he did curse being born.  He was being forced to endure more than he ever could have fathomed.  This is more than any human should have to endure.  He was understandably depressed.  No one should be judged for being depressed.  No one knows what is going on inside that person.

    Job just wanted a release from his agony.  I can image that every breath hurt.  Circumstances, health, diet, genetics, and more all affect our moods.  Our moods affect how we feel within any given moment.  That is why we need the foundation of truth to be able to withstand our moods.  However, anyone who suffers over an extended amount of time is going to have negative thoughts and moods.  It wears down the strongest moral characters.  

    Even Christians get depressed .and occasionally to a place of despair.  This is where Job was.  At this point all he knew was pain: physical, mental, and emotional.  It is not a good place to be and he was being transparent about it.  If a person ever comes to you in this state, do not judge or shut that person down.  You may just be their lifeline at that moment.  Pray with them and do what you can without losing yourself in the process.

Job 3