Going Through A Long Dark Tunnel

• sent widows away without helping them and crushed the orphans.” Job 22:6-9

“Stop quarreling with God! If you turn to the Almighty and clean up your life you will be restored.” Job 22:21-23

Illustration: Stephen Covey tells of his experience on a New York subway. People were sitting quietly when a man with several rambunctious children got on the car. The man sat down and closed his eyes as though oblivious to his children. The once quiet subway turned into a place of chaos… until finally, Covey confronted the man about his children. He said, “The man opened his eyes, as if unaware of the situation and after a moment said, ‘Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I I don’t know what to think and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either.’”

I suspect Job was similarly shocked by the insensitivity of those around him, who immediately concluded that his recent setbacks were God’s judgment upon his life for sin Job was refusing to acknowledge.

Transition: Job was no different than we are when it came to dealing with the indignity of injustice.

III. Job wanted to let someone know that he had a complaint.

Job was caught between a rock and a hard place. Job was going through a long dark tunnel, and there was no light at the end of that tunnel. Job felt like his prayers were falling on deaf ears.

Where was he supposed to go for justice? Who would hear his story? Where could Job file his complaint?

Illustration: Bonnie and I recently bought two accent chairs for my study. I picked them up at the warehouse and brought them here to church and unpacked them. One was broken, so I did as Diana Hult suggested and called the folks who sold us the chairs and asked them to bring out a new chair and swap it out for the broken chair. They said, “You should have looked at the chairs before you left the warehouse.” Essentially, if you want the chair swapped out, return it for another. They sell me a broken chair and I have to rent another pickup truck to return the broken chair they sold me, in order to get the unbroken chair I purchased.

I called them again and said, “These chairs have no legs. Aren’t they supposed to have legs?” Do I have to bring them back and get chairs with legs? The lady said, “No just turn them over and unzip the zipper and you’ll find your legs.” Who would have thought to look for a zipper on the botton of a chair… who would think that chair manufacturers would hide the legs in a little bag tied to the underside of the springs?

A. Where can you file a complaint?

If you find yourself in an aggrieved situation you now have an alternative to the Better Business Bureau… you can take your complaint to the Bad Business Bureau. If you go to www.ripoffreport.com you can at least let off a little steam.

Illustration: The ripoffreport web site promo reads, “[Are you a ] Victim of a consumer Rip-off? Want justice? Rip-off Report™ is a worldwide consumer reporting Website & Publication, by consumers, for consumers, to file & document complaints about companies or individuals who rip-off consumers.