Dreaded

"The thing I was afraid of happened to me, the thing I dreaded," Job 3:25.

Sometimes we didn't even know we dreaded it until it happened. And when it happened it exposed that deepest fear. Sometimes it just made things worse when we already felt the dread beforehand. And when the dread actualized, shock overwhelmed, we felt defenselessly bewildered. The anchor lost its purchase, we felt entirely left to will of wind and wave. Lost to the vagaries of chance. Stomach hurt. Couldn't stand. No breath to catch. And that's the way Job's story opens. It's an unsettling read. Forty chapters expose Job's relentlessly hoarse struggle with family, friends, and God seeking to understand the inexplicable dread. Spoiler alert - here's the end: he never gets it. Rather, in the midst of the dreaded thing, Job chooses to trust God, that God's got it. (What else is there?)

Brother or sister today, we encourage each other that God's got the whole world in his hands, including us. And, together, whether we get it or not, in humility we speak blessing to God.