‘“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!”
~ Job 14:13
Hi James and Ellen,
Being sick is no fun. Your grandmaa has been sick for ten days. Your grandmaa is getting better but . . . when you are sick, you sometimes do not care what is happening around you. When your grandpaa had malaria, all your grandpaa wanted to do was to curl up in a ball and for everyone to leave him alone. Your grandpaa felt miserable. Your grandpaa had made a trip in his pickup to the Ixcan region in Guatemala. The Ixcan is a very hot, muggy area that has a lot of mosquitoes. While your grandpaa was in the Ixcan, your grandpaa was bitten by a mosquito which carried malaria. About ten days after your grandpaa got back to Guatemala City, your grandpaa began to feel yucky. A guy, gal or kid who has malaria will have his or her teeth begin to chatter. The guy, gal or kid will then begin to shake like he or she is freezing cold. The guy, gal or kid will then begin to sweat. Because malaria affects the liver and the spleen, the lower back area of the guy, gal or kid will begin to hurt big time. Malaria – in your grandpaa’s case, affected your grandpaa in forty-eight hour cycles. Your grandpaa would feel okay for a day or so then your grandpaa would begin to shake, then he would begin to sweat and then his lower back area would begin to really hurt. After your grandpaa went through the first forty-eight hour cycle, your grandmaa thought your grandpaa might have malaria. The first cycle was not terribly bad. Your grandpaa thought that he was going to get better – then your grandpaa had a second cycle. The second cycle was a whole lot worse than the first cycle. A friend was staying with your grandmaa and grandpaa at this time. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were in Antigua with Smitty when another forty-eight hour cycle began. Your grandpaa could not even drive home because he was feeling so awful. Smitty had to drive your grandmaa and grandpaa to their house. When your grandpaa began to feel better again, your grandpaa decided not to go to the doctor. Your grandpaa thought that he was going to get better but . . . then the third cycle began. Your grandpaa could not get to his doctor quick enough. The doctor who your grandpaa went to immediately had your grandpaa go to the emergency room that is in the clinic where the doctor has his office. Your grandpaa does not remember ever hurting as bad as he was hurting when the doctor sent him to the emergency room. All your grandpaa wanted to do was curl up into a fetal position and . . . after spending time in the clinic sleeping after having been given some pills, your grandpaa was well enough to be able to go home from the clinic later that day.
You are getting to know Job. You know that Job is being ruthlessly tested. You hear Job – in Job 14, talking about how he is feeling. Job sounds like he wishes that he had not been born. Job seems to be wondering why God does not seem to want to help him. Job is hurting big time. Do you remember three guys – Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, who called themselves friends of Job? Zophar had just told Job that there had to have been sin in Job’s life otherwise God would not be doing what He was doing to Job. Job was covered with sores. Job was not in a good place. How do you feel when you are sick? Was Job blaming God for being sick? No he wasn’t. Was Job blaming God for all those horrible things he has had happen to him? No he wasn’t. When you get sick, should you blame God? That would be wrong to do. Your grandmaa is sick now because she was bitten by a mosquito. The mosquito that bit your grandmaa that caused her to get sick carried dengue. There are two different kinds of dengue. One kind of dengue can kill a guy, gal or kid. This kind of dengue will cause a guy, gal or kid to begin to hemorrhage. Your grandmaa has the other kind of dengue. The kind of dengue that your grandmaa has has another name. This dengue is called break bone fever. This dengue will make someone’s bones ache or hurt so bad that he or she will feel like his or her bones are broken. Your grandmaa could not even rub her head because her hair hurt when it was touched. Your grandmaa had awful pains running down the back of her head. Your grandmaa has not felt like eating at all. There is no way for your grandmaa or grandpaa to know how sick or how awful Job really felt. Job probably felt all alone in the world. There is a sense that Job feels like even God has left him. Job knows though deep down that God has not left him but . . . when you get really sick, you can get really goofy in the head in how you think. If you are a missionary, you know that you will get sick sometimes – probably more often than you would if you lived in the U.S. Your grandmaa had typhoid when she lived in Bolivia. Your grandmaa needed to spend several days in a clinic as the doctor knew that your grandmaa was very sick. Your grandpaa just had a bad bacterial infection in his throat. There were times when your grandpaa could only walk in circles while wishing that the awful burning pain in his throat and the painful bursting feeling in his ears would just go away. What do you think God is doing to you when He has you be made sick? He is teaching you to persevere – to trust Him.
As you hear Job speaking, you cannot help but feel sorry for him. You may be able to identify with Job. You are learning what Job already knows – that there will come a time when he knows that he will no longer be sick. There will be times when you will become sick and then you will become well again. Job wishes in verse 13 ‘“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me”! Job knows God’s anger is not directed at him. When you become sick, you may think that God is angry with you but . . . God is angry with the sin and with the evil which is everywhere on planet Earth. God is continually unfolding His perfect plan for you which will include you becoming sick and then becoming well again.
Job 14 (41)