Job

"What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."--The Book of Job



This line from Job has been on my mind since infertility became a reality; for those who are close to me you know this quote would perfectly describe my feelings about infertility.



By all accounts Job was a prosperous man; rich in slaves and cattle. He fears God and lives righteously. God allows Satan to test Job. Satan can torture Job in anyway, but he cannot kill him. Satan takes Job's family, riches, and his health. It is important to realize Job did not know this was a test. We should learn from what Job did not know...in our suffering we do not know all the facts. Think of how easy it would be for Job to endure pain if he knew it was a test, and that God would reward him.



From Job we also learn another important lesson; a life with God does not guarantee that you will suffer no pain or disappointment. The hard things in life do have a purpose. How could you turn to God without knowing darkness? When Job thought about his holy life he began to doubt God's goodness. Job though stuck to guns and remained faithful to God knowing that God was the only port in the storm.



Job has three friends who come to him, and try to make sense of Job's afflictions. They all have different explanations for him, but none are right. They do not have all the facts. They do not know the will of God, and neither do we. This is another interesting point that I have a hard time with; your friends cannot provide comfort and advice in place of God. Job's 'friends' condemn him saying that Job must have done something to displease God. God did not like the attitudes of Job's 'friends'.



However, one of Job's friends does introduce an interesting concept that there is a spiritual value in suffering. He believes that while God's plans for us maybe a mystery; He treats all of his children fairly.



Ultimately, Job expressed that he was very angry with God, and accused God of allowing him to suffer needlessly. God appeared and decided in favor of Job. Job asked for God's forgiveness for his words and was forgiven. God punished Job's friends, and rewarded Job with twice the riches he once had and beautiful family.





Job reminds me that we will never know everything there is to know about God. He is not obligated to give us reasons, but we can seek comfort in the fact that God is not punishing for our sins. God is always trying to shape us, and God asks us to remain faithful and trust in Him because He knows all the facts.



One of my greatest fears (infertility wise) is having someone tell me that, "It is not God's will for you to have children, and trying to with medicine is wrong." I actually read about girl who was confronted with this statement and the girl said, "Well, would you expect a person with cancer not to get treatment?" whereby the old hag responded, "Yes, some people refuse treatment and die." This reminds me of Job's friends idly conjecturing about Job's fate and God's will. It gives me strength that if this happens to me I will know that whoever says something like this is 'one of Job's friends.' They do not know God's plans for me. I am satisfied, after much prayer, that I am doing what God intends for me to do in this situation. He made sure I was diagnosed with PCOS through Patrick's first diagnosis, He made sure the first doctor, that we didn't feel good about didn't accept our insurance which led us to a doctor who does and that we LOVE. I truly don't believe in coincidences anymore, but do believe (even though it is a challenge) that in the end everything works out exactly how it should.