Leave Me Alone! Series

Job 10: 1 – 22

Leave Me Alone!

1“My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me. 3 Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise the work of Your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked? 4 Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees? 5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man, 6 That You should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin, 7 although You know that I am not wicked, and there is no one who can deliver from Your hand? 8 ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. 9 Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? 10 Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese, 11 clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews? 12 You have granted me life and favor, and Your care has preserved my spirit. 13 ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You: 14 If I sin, then You mark me, and will not acquit me of my iniquity. 15 If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery! 16 If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, and again You show Yourself awesome against me. 17 You renew Your witnesses against me, and increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me. 18 ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! 19 I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort, 21 Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, 22 a land as dark as darkness itself, as the shadow of death, without any order, where even the light is like darkness.’ ”

In America we are prone to certain problems that are unique in which other countries do not have to deal with. Some of these epidemics are obesity, drugs [illegal and prescription], materialism, and the need to pay someone to listen to you [Psychology]. The church is not free from this ailment. We have all kinds of divisions, weird doctrines, and behaviors. One such warped doctrine is positive confession.

In the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 1 we read the “there is nothing new under the sun.” The truth of this proverb can be seen in a growing phenomenon in the body of Christ which could be called the “faith movement.” It would seem that almost every believer (and lots of non-believers) has encountered this teaching at one time or another. It’s easy to recognize; one hears such affirmations as:

“You can have what you say.”

“The reason you haven’t been healed is that you don’t have enough faith.”

“We can write our own ticket with God if we decide what we want, believe that it’s ours, and confess it.”

“Get your faith out there, start confessing God’s Word. If we want God’s Word to work for us, we must side with it.”

The passage cited from Ecclesiastes is indeed pertinent; this “faith” teaching is not entirely new. It stems from an old problem–a problem that even the nation of Israel struggled with at times. A passage from Judges sums it up well:

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. – Judges 21:25

“Now just a minute,” some “faith” preaching brothers may say. “We’re not doing what’s right in our own eyes…we’re doing what God says. We’re walking by faith in His Word. We’re living out God’s perfect will.”

Perhaps that’s just the problem. It appears that the major problem with Christians who get caught up in the “faith” and “positive confession” movement is that they believe they know exactly what God wants at any given moment. They act as if the whole counsel of God could be (and is) fully revealed to them. They respond, at times, as if God had explained to them everything He thought, planned, or willed. Therefore, they indeed do what they think is right–what they think God’s will is–in their own perspective.