The Necessity of Reflection
The Book of Job is filled with extremes. The poetic language used is both cryptic and descriptive at the same time. It is also repetitive to emphasize themes and expand on metaphors. It is a series of arguments to determine Job’s course of action and attitude. If we apply these things in our lives, we must reflect on whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Not many of us are at our lowest low or our highest high; however, we have to consider them to prepare for those times, as they will inevitably come.
Here are a few questions to consider:
- Are things better than ever?
- Are things as bad as they can get?
- Am I in control of my life today?
- Do I let disappointments alter my faith?
- How can I be more optimistic?
- How do I view God?
- How do I view myself?
- Do my daily activities make my life better?
- Do I strive to bless the lives of others?
- How do I manage my time?
- Do I have a plan for the future?
- How do I act when confronted with opposition?
- Am I possessed by an ideology that ruins relationships with those I know and have never met?
- Do I demonstrate integrity?
- Do I nurture and value my most intimate relationships?
- Am I genuine or hypocritical?
- Do I have things that I consider sacred?
- In what circumstances would I be tempted to abandon my standards?
- Do I act as if I believe in God?
- Am I false?
- Do I worry excessively?
- Do I care what others think of me?
- Can I love people I have never met?
- What will people say about me at my funeral?
If anything on this list causes you to reflect on yourself, take the time necessary to explore it further.
Job was forced by his misfortune to consider everything. He got counsel from friends and wondered what he had done to deserve what happened to him. He wondered why the wicked were blessed with abundance. He was once reverenced and respected by all and now had become a joke. He was suffering from the loss of everything and questioned almost everything. He wished he had never been born. He was even tormented in his dreams.
However, through it all, he recognized the greatness of God and that it does no good to contend against him. Through his afflictions, he maintains his trust in God. When I see people turn away from God, I always wonder what they are turning toward.
The verse that had the most impact on me out of the 42 chapters I read is the final one in chapter 28, which reads in part, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
There is one more concept regarding the idea of reflection that I love, and it concerns how we need to learn to see ourselves. It is described in 1 Corinthians 13:12 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. They read as follows:
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” and “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The glass in these verses refers to a looking glass, a mirror, and describes how we should see ourselves. As we begin to see ourselves correctly, we become more and more like the Savior Jesus Christ and see his hand in our lives each day.