A.    Job's Situation

1. This was a spiritual man with a good family.
   Read Job 1:1-5
2. God allows Satan the opportunity to test his faith.  Satan doesn't believe that faith in God can hold up under extreme duress, so God allows for an experiment.
   Read Job 1:12
3. One very bad day.
   Read Job 1:13-19
4. Job's initial response.
   Read Job 1:20-22
5. The second round.
   Read Job 2:1-8
   A pretty dismal picture.  Can anything make it worse?

B.    Job's Wife

1. Read Job 2:9-10
   "You make me sick, Job.  Still hanging onto your God after all this?  Curse God and die!
   Thanks, hon.  So now Job is totally alone.

C.    Job's Friends

1. They start off doing exactly the right thing.  They sit quietly and listen as Job begins to mourn out loud, wishing he'd never been born, rather than having to suffer such a horrific loss.  The friends weep with him, tear their clothes and mourn with him.  For seven days and nights they stand by as Job cries out to God and gives vent to his sadness, anger and cross examination of God.
   Job 2:11-13
2. Eli, Billie and Zoey finally can't stand it.  Nine speeches that basically go like this:
1. Who could resist shushing you? You once instructed others and now you're acting like this?  You've held others up, and now you're coming apart?  Where's your faith, dude?  
2. Now, let me remind you that no one was ever punished by God without cause, says Eliphaz.  Those who plow evil and sow trouble reap it. (Job 4:8)  So, you must have brought this on yourself.
3. If I were you, I'd appeal to God.  He wounds but He also binds up.  So go to God, 'fess up and then He'll heal you and stop all these calamities.

D.    God Speaks  (Job 38-41)

1. First to Job:  Brace yourself.  You've been asking all these questions.  Now I will question you.
   Read Job 38:3-12, 25-30, 33-36; 39:1-2, 13-18, 19-20, 26-27
2. And you correct me?  You accuse me?  You question me?
3. Job, (40:4)"so sorry, I put my hand over my mouth".
4. God says, "Brace yourself like a man" (40:7) because I'm not done yet.  Look at the behemoth…look at the leviathan (crocodile)…
   Who has the power to tame them, you or me?"

E.    Job's Response

F.    Now God turns to the friends as part of a kind of epilogue.

Some obvious applications:

1. There are some things we'll never know this side of heaven.  One of the marks of maturity in this life is growing acceptance of ambiguity.  One of the marks of maturity in our faith is the determination to trust the character of God even though this earth doesn't always make sense.
2. There are some things we can be absolutely sure of this side of heaven.  From Job, God is the one in control, with the power and a plan, and it's too much for us to really grasp.
3. No one is immune from suffering and loss.  The very-spiritual will also suffer, and sometimes more.  Though wrong doing often does instigate a whole chain of calamities and consequences (cause and effect), calamity is not always caused by wrongdoing.  (Jesus even makes this point…).  Though living God's way will usually produce fewer spiraling chain-reactions of self-destruction, there are no guarantees except this:  In the world you will have tribulation.
4. It's hard to walk alongside a grieving person, and even harder to walk quietly, to be patient and to resist the temptation to explain or fix.    (Men – overcome the temptation to minimize or fix.  Women – overcome the temptation to tell your own story, from Deborah Tannen, "You Just Don't Understand").
5. Grief takes time and has a life of its own.  Depending on the nature of the loss and the depth of the sadness, it can go on for years, or even for a lifetime.  While it helps to know that we are eternal beings, there's certainly no pleasure in the knowledge that a few people will grieve for all the days of this life.
6. There are choices we can make in grief that can help us in grief and through grief.
7. Grief will exact its toll.  If we pretend it doesn't exist or try to hurry through it, grief has a way of popping up or chasing us down.  I believe that depressions and much anger are grief related, and often they flare up because we've tried to ignore or disrespect the deeper sad nesses.
8. How we respond to grief, in our lives and others, can have a huge impact on future happiness, in much the same way that our management of pain and offense and potential bitterness is a huge determiner of future happiness.

For those who grieve: 

1. Try not to hide.  Stay connected.  Let people help.  Muster the energy to keep showing up at church, even if all you can do is cry.  Don't isolate too much.
2. Be patient with yourself.  You might wish you were stronger, or that you were more buoyant.  It is what it is, and you are who you are.  These things take time.
3. Take care of your physical self…eating…exercising…see a doctor, if necessary.

For those who love those who grieve:

1. Words aren't that important.  Don't stay away because you don't know what to say.  A simple "I'm sorry for your loss," or "I love you," is pretty good. Silence ain't bad either, if you show up.
2. Show up.  If you're close, stay. Be with them.
3. Ask, "What do you need?"  If they can't tell you, anticipate need.  But, here's the catch, some busybodies stay and help when the person who grieves wishes he/she wouldn't.  Watch for cues.  Read the signs. Ask.
4. Resist the temptation to burden those who grieve with your own stories of grief.  It's impossible to come alongside a grieving person without being reminded of our own losses, but it's not impossible to keep our memories to ourselves.  A grieving person doesn't need to watch your slideshow or look at my photo album of past grief.  When we do this, we're trying to say "I understand."  The grieving person very quickly retorts, internally or out loud, "How could you possible understand?"
5. Cards, gifts, laughs, tears, friendship is so good.  Pour it on.  Don't disappear in this time of sadness.