HUMAN HELPLESSNESS BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY - The Warrior's Journey®
Helplessness

HUMAN HELPLESSNESS BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY

Author: David Causey, USA (Ret.)

Sand as Far as the Eye Can See. Photo by Marines is licensed under CC By 2.0

“God is not a mortal like me,
    so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.
If only there were a mediator between us,
    someone who could bring us together.
The mediator could make God stop beating me,
    and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.
Then I could speak to him without fear,
    but I cannot do that in my own strength.” (Job 9:32-35, NLT)

Trapped!

In August of 2019, Fox News reported the rescue of a Cambodian man who had been trapped in a rock crevasse for four days.  The man, 28-year-old Sum Bora, had been gathering bat guano to sell as fertilizer.  His flashlight fell down the crevasse and he was trying to retrieve it.  Then he slid further down the crevasse where it narrowed to just a few inches wide.  He became wedged between the rocks, unable to move a muscle.

After he had not returned home for three days, his family alerted authorities.  It required a ten-hour operation, involving 200 emergency service personnel, to pry him free from his narrow prison and rush him to the hospital.  He fully recovered, though now he’s a lot more cautious in his guano mining expeditions.

The image of Sum Bora trapped between the rocks gives me the chills.  It is a picture of absolute human helplessness in a painful situation, powerless to change one’s circumstances or to escape them.

Tested Faith

A Jump Master assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) gives the command of GO to a paratrooper during an airborne operation in honor of the 101st birthday of the Warrant Officer Corps July 19, 2019 at Fort Bragg, N.C. To honor the 101st birthday of the Warrant Officer Corps, 3rd SFG (A) had a luncheon that proceeded a cake cutting conducted by the oldest and the youngest Warrant Officer who attended the event and conducted an airborne operation. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Steven Lewis)

Job would know that feeling.  He was trapped in the most horrific circumstances and he was powerless to change or escape them.  Worst of all, the patriarch was plagued by questions that challenged his long-cherished beliefs.  Why had God turned on him and become his adversary?  As head of his family Job had worked tirelessly to offer prayers and sacrifices to God on their behalf.  He had kept himself free from sins and addictions which would have allowed Satan, the real adversary, to penetrate his defenses.  Job had done everything to stay in God’s favor and protect his family.  But, it seemed, God had attacked and judged him – all while there were millions of wicked and godless people who went unpunished.

Of course, Job’s perceptions were warped by both his own depression and by his limited view of reality.  Job could not see the spiritual battle that raged around him.  Nor could he yet understand that the Lord disciplines and purifies those He loves (Hebrews 12:5-11).

But in his prison of helplessness Job voices one of the most profound anticipations of Jesus Christ that’s found in the Old Testament.  He yearns for the “God-man,” Someone in the universe who is as big as God is, yet who also understands – by personal experience – the pain of human helplessness.  “If only there was a mediator between us, someone to lay his hand on both of us, someone to restrain God’s rod of anger.” 

The Holy Mediator

An American competitor goes through critical task day one lane during Fuerzas Comando 2019, Santiago, Chile, June 18, 2019.<br /> Competitors refine their tactical and technical skills during competition. Fuerzas<br /> Comando increases interoperability, cooperation and trust among Special<br /> Operations Forces in the region.

Of course, Jesus Christ fits the bill perfectly.  “…He was the very substance of God, yet not regard equality with God something to be clung to, but He made himself nothing and took on the role of a slave … He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of crucifixion” (Philippians 2:6-8).

Yes, the Almighty Himself (a name so prevalent in Job – 31 of its 46 occurrences in the Old Testament are in this book), humbled Himself to become a little baby cradled and nursed by Mary.  He laid aside the privileges of Deity and never used His divine power to change His circumstances or to ease His pain.  Like the rest of us He attended the school of hard knocks.  But by doing so, became the perfect Savior for humanity (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15; 5:8-9).

Now, whenever we suffer and must endure beneath the heel of adversity, we know for certainty – there is Someone in heaven who knows exactly how we feel.  What pain, abuse, and rejection have we suffered that Christ Himself has not already suffered?  We may feel trapped beneath the heavy burden of tribulation, but Jesus is right there with us, suffering every bit of our pain.  He knows by personal experience all that we are going through.

PRAYER

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for tasting both the bitterness of life and death for me.  Thank You for leaving the glories of heaven to enter this dreary world of misery and pain.  Thank You that You never took any shortcuts to evade life’s troubles, but experienced the full spectrum of human suffering.  Lord Jesus, I embrace You as my Master and pray that You’ll walk with me as I descend into life’s valleys.  Hold my hand, dear Lord, and help me to never lose sight of You. Amen.


Photos:
-Below (Information from)
-https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/48475062401/
-https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/48092644958/

(Information from: https://www.foxnews.com/world/cambodia-rock-bat-droppings-guano-wedged-survives)

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