“For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
The Storm
Job names something worth taking seriously here, the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, worth holding as honest acknowledgment that genuine fear can, sometimes, actually materialize, not always proven unfounded or exaggerated, but genuinely, actually realized, worth naming rather than pretending otherwise.
This is worth examining against however much your own anxiety has been dismissed, by others or by yourself, as merely irrational worry certain never to actually happen. Job’s own honest testimony here insists otherwise, sometimes the feared thing genuinely comes, worth holding as sober, honest realism, not catastrophizing.
This is worth holding alongside real hope, not because this book will pretend feared things never happen, but because Job’s own larger story, restoration eventually, genuinely following even this realized fear, suggests the actual coming of a feared thing is not, by itself, the final word this book will ultimately trace.
Whatever feared thing has actually, genuinely come upon you, receive today Job’s own honest acknowledgment as companionship, not denial that this happens, but honest naming alongside genuine hope that this realized fear, like Job’s own eventual story, is not necessarily the final, permanent word.
Find the Still
- Name honestly whether a genuinely feared thing has actually, realistically come upon you.
- Receive Job’s own honest acknowledgment as companionship, not denial that feared things happen.
- Hold this honest naming alongside genuine hope, trusting it is not necessarily the final word.
Prayer
Lord, the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, like it did for Job. Let me name this honestly, and trust, as Job eventually found, that this is not necessarily the final word. Amen.
Carry this today
Sometimes feared things genuinely happen. This honest reality is not necessarily the final word.