A Boy Named Job

A Boy Named Job


His Dad picked the name. Drafted for service in Vietnam. Gunned down in a jungle ambush. Sterile letter of condolence under government issue. A four year-old with no image of Papa.

His Mom had not been able to explain the odd handle. She chuckled when at age fifteen he brought home a Bible from the Library. Birthday money from his Gramma secured his own copy of the Book of Job a year later.

He had tried it twice. Awkward language. About a sad guy with everything going wrong, and friends who proved no help at all. Three big shots without the slightest bit of real comfort to offer.

Another guy named Elihu came in late. Much younger, and respecting the priority of his elders. Job had hoped that this one might shed some light, but again the same condemnation. God is always right. He rewards the righteous. Only bad guys or fools get the tar kicked out of them. But Elihu had said something curious, something about rescue from the pit, rescue by means of a ransom (chapter 33:22-24).

Ransom…Hmmm? That’s what got paid to release a prisoner from jail or kidnapping. Could the struggling patriarch hope for the same? This question would remain with the young man into his early thirties.

Then came the divorce. Fault to be shared just about equally with Karen. Two girls stayed with her. Visitation proving increasingly awkward. Karen’s new husband had moved them out of state.

Easter season rolled around and the prospect of visit collapsed. Lonely apartment. Bad start at spring sales at the dealership. It hit Job surprisingly hard.

With nothing else to do Sunday morning, he decided to slip into one of the back rows at the early service in the church three blocks away. The sermon was classic Easter. Jesus hanging in shame. “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?”

Hit Job like a ton of bricks. The blameless One suffering. The cruelty and dispassion of men. The blood and disfigured body. The total absence of fairness. The RANSOM. The end game is worth it all!

This was his soldier-Dad’s legacy! ‘Son, I may not be there, and life isn’t fair. Though pain brings on fear, the Father is near. He sees every test. He plans for the best. He offered His Son for ransomed. YOU’RE ONE.’