I Just Want to Be Ok—Job 2:1-10; Mark 5: 1-20
Many of us have grown up in families that have a particular way of dealing with struggles and the tough times of life. There are in fact a number of lyrical phrases in life that describe this particular therapeutic method. They sound something like this: suck it up, buttercup, just put up or shut up, deal with it, man up, get over it already, bite the bullet and go on, and the award winning one that work every time when someone is upset—“just calm down.” I have never, ever in my life found one person for whom being told to just calm down ever works.
As we begin our Lenten journey of faithful answers in tough times, we look at the idea of suffering today, wondering aloud, “I just want to be okay.” Today’s scriptures tell two stories of people who endured suffering in life but found the way through, and make no mistake, it’s almost always a way through and not a way around. Here are the lessons we can take away: we never know the depths of another’s suffering and struggle, some folks don’t want to do better so you need boundaries, healing can be fast or long timeline, so build a good circle cause not everyone is going to support you.
The truth is that we never know the depth of another person’s struggle. Both of scriptures for today tell of a very deep level of suffering. Job, in the span of a day, lost all his family, his livestock and farming, his servants, and on day two his health. The only thing he didn’t lose was his wife, and frankly, she probably should have been the first thing to go. Likewise, the Gerasene man was hounded and tortured by his demons, abused by the locals who tried to control him with violent and exploitive means, and living in abject suffering. Job sat in quiet sadness. The Gerasene man howled loudly. And here is proof that there is no right way to go through a period of suffering.
There are times in life you have to go through a bad period, a low point, a set time where you will wonder, “Why can’t I just suck it up and be okay?” But though we may all suffer, there is no right or wrong way to do so. It’s not our role to judge and evaluate another’s suffering. We are to simply be with them. Job held it together through untold physical suffering. I can come unglued from a papercut. We are all going to have struggles in life, so let’s make it a point to be a present, loving care to someone instead of trying to evaluate their state.
The one time where you do have to be careful is people who don’t want to do better. This is an area I fundamentally don’t understand. The Gerasenes saw the power of Jesus to heal, to help, to save this man from the worst of suffering and demon possession. One would think they’d flock to Jesus asking how can this holy man help us!? But instead, they run away and beg Jesus to leave. They reject every aspect of what has been done. Now, there are political, social, and economic reasons for this. But how do you reject this man who offers such hope and power?
There are people like this. They say they want help, but in reality, they seek attention. And if you are in the place of trying to be okay in your own life, you cannot fix them. Jesus can help them, but you are not the great fixer or a savior. God alone does that. I’ll give you an example. I remember a pastor friend of mine had a church visitor who they prayed over and “delivered” again and again for the same thing over and over. He was confused why this kept happening. Finally, I said to him, “You cannot be delivered from the demons you’re in love with.” In the end, the Gerasene man wanted healing. The Gerasene people wanted rid of the healer because they were the ones in love with their own figurative demons.
So, let’s talk about what it looks like to come to a path of healing. For some it is pretty fast, for others it’s a long-term journey. When Jesus encounters the Gerasene man, the evil inside of him recognized Jesus and his holy presence almost immediately. That evil being held inside of him shrieked and begged Jesus to leave him alone. Here’s the depth of Jesus’s compassion. He didn’t destroy that spirit…he sent it to pigs at that spirit’s own request. Jesus wasn’t the cause of the pigs’ demise, he only granted what the bad spirit asked for.
There are some bad habits, bad people, and bad trauma which can be addressed almost immediately when the light of healing is shined on it. A friend of mine had a lot of trouble with a co-worker who was constantly tearing her down, badmouthing her, and trying to start trouble. Upon finding out, she went to that person and demanded they stop. Shortly thereafter the offensive coworker was fired. There are bad people, bad habits, bad situations where we can say, “Stop,” and set a boundary, and end the problem…or send it off to live with the pigs. That takes some faith and a lot of courage.
But sometimes we need a large amount of faith and a good circle of friends. Job was in a much different place. He had no idea why his suffering was happening. He had no power over the situation to say, “Stop!” He did not have a Jesus in his life to support him. Sometimes healing in life is a long and slow process. The Book of Job begins in chapters one and two with Job’s tremendous suffering. His restoration comes in the middle of chapter 42. That’s a lot time to wait for God’s response. Sometimes the answer to our prayers is not immediate. Sometimes we’re left with the best we can do, just suck it up, or keep praying. Job may have waited a long time, but God was still faithful.
Job turned to friends who blamed him, offered no help, and caused more suffering. Job’s wife told him to simply curse God and die. But in the end, Job could still count on God even though he had a long time to wait. But God never left him. God was with Job all the time, and despite the misery in Job’s life, God was still in control of the situation and didn’t leave Job without hope at some point. And Job gives us that great lesson—whether it is a time of great blessing or a time of loss and trouble, blessed be the name of the Lord.
The common threads in these two stories are first that both Job and the Gerasene man sought God in their time of need, and two God healed and restored both when the time was right. None of that promises an easy journey. In my time as an attorney, I’ve dealt with numerous types of mental health conditions, physical disabilities, life trauma, addiction, and so on. Finding healing is an incredibly difficult journey, no matter what the struggle is. But also, there is nothing that is beyond God’s strength.
One of the most common questions in the Book of Job is how long did his suffering last? We really don’t know. Most scholars agree it was more than two months. Some speculate 42 months, one for each chapter. But there are many scholars who believe it was years, and some even say decades. The question we’re left with, unfortunately, is not a question of length but of faith. Even when God makes us wait, will we still hold the faith that God is with us. Both of these scriptures and examples show us that God will never leave, but we must continue on in our faith until the end.
In the end we never know how much a person suffers. There’s a saying in life that you never know what a person is going through until you walk a mile in their shoes. And that is very true. Each person has some struggle in life, and we must remember that and be a supportive part of that journey. But we must also set boundaries and protect our own peace from people who are in love with their own demons and refuse to be a part of the healing journey God offers.
Healing and help may be fast, or we may have to settle in and wait like Job did. But even though people, family, sanity, and everything else left Job and the Gerasene man behind, God was still there with strength for that day and bright hope for tomorrow. I hear a lot of rough sayings—suck it up, buttercup; get over it and move on; and the grand prize winner…just calm down. I think, perhaps, a much better saying is, “Precious Lord, take my hand.” When we have our faith in Jesus to help us and heal us, we have a hope we can count on every time.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/403209789053514