Finding Hope in our Brief Lives

One of the struggles that Job contended with in Job 14 is discovering hope and meaning in the difficulties attached to our very short lives.   Job describes our lives as a "few days and full of trouble... like a flower that withers... a shadow."  (vs. 1-2)   Job believes that a tree has more hope than man, since when a tree is cut down it will "sprout again… at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant."  (vs. 7-10)

This is one of the temptations when we look at the brevity of life and the struggles attached to it, hopelessness.  But where can hope come from in the midst of our troubles?  The answer to that question ultimately lies in whether we have hope beyond the grave or not.  If we believe a tree has more hope, than certainly hopelessness will follow, especially when we are passing through difficulties. 

But if we believe there is life beyond our struggles and that there is a God who will provide His joy in this life and resurrection to come, than with the apostle Paul we could say, "I do not compare the sufferings of this present time worth compared to the glory that follows."  (Romans 8:18)   Though Job did not have the full revelation of Christ that we do today, he did have it in part, for later on in Job 14:14 he asks, "If a man dies shall he live again?"  His answer, "I will wait during my service on earth until my renewal would come."  

That confidence of renewal was found in Job's assurance that God would "seal up his transgressions in a bag and cover his iniquities."  (Job 14:16-17)   And we know that though the OT saints saw Christ from afar, like a shadow, God had shown that that one day Jesus would come, "for I know that my Redeemer lives and at last He will stand upon earth."  (Job 19:25)   And of course we know that through Christ our Redeemer, "he who has the Son has life."  

In the midst of our trouble, let us remember Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who dies for our sins and now through Him we have forgiveness and eternal life.  When we have that hope, we then discover hope beyond this life and life not matter what it throws our way is the place we can proclaim that indeed our Redeemer lives.