15You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature you hands have made. 16Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
Job’s words of hope, and that is what they are, are spoken from the perspective of one who is already dead. Job longs for death, for relief from his pain, suffering, loneliness and silence. He feels forgotten by God, ignored and forsaken. But even in the middle of this dark, dark place, Job expresses hope. He knows that after his death he will see God. There will be answers to his questions. Silence will be replaced with open communication. His sins will be remembered no more. Forgiveness will be the order of the day. Job’s friends keep saying that Job is ignoring his sin, that his sin has gotten him in this position. But Job knows that there is forgiveness coming. He longs for God’s presence and forgiveness and he knows that will happen in full after his death. So many don’t have any idea about what will happen after death. Job has some clarity and expresses it even when the bottom has fallen out, when all hope seems to have faded. Are you able to grasp hope even when the bottom has fallen out of your world? Are you able to see beyond the pit, if only for a moment? If you can, those glimpses can be enough to carry you through the pit. Don’t focus only on the glimpses, a pie-in-the-sky escapist’s view of overcoming suffering. No amount of denial will remove the pain. Dealing with the suffering is essential to getting through it. You can’t leave a place you have never been. You can’t get past the loss until you have faced the loss.
The Arnold Journey 