WHEN in need of comfort, many turn to certain books of the Bible, notably to the Psalms, to Isaiah, and particularly to the New Testament; but perhaps they may not realize how wonderfully comforting is the book of Job. There is comfort in the very fact that the supposititious cause of Job's sufferings was nothing but Satan, a purely imaginary personality, and that his faith in God was being tested in the face of seeming physical suffering and material loss. Job was an upright man, and he was prosperous. Most of us can be good in prosperity; but it is in the time of trouble that we find out where we stand.
When Job was suddenly faced by loss on all sides, pain and misery of various kinds, his three friends condemned him and would not believe that he was not suffering from the effects of secret sins. He himself could not understand his sufferings, and began to think God unjust in so chastising him, until, having exhausted all his arguments and his search for the origin of evil, he sank into a state of silent misery and endurance.
Meanwhile, Elihu had been watching the proceedings. He was younger than Job's other friends, but he had the fresh spontaneity which students often feel upon their entrance into the knowledge of Christian Science, a condition of thought in which the whole world seems to glow with the wonder and beauty of the allness of God. Elihu did not search for a cause of the trouble, his chief reproach being that Job "justified himself rather than God." He apologized for his youth, but realized that God would help Job through the truth he uttered, for he knew that "the inspiration of the Almighty giveth . . . understanding."
His statement, "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life," must bring comfort to everyone who accepts it. He then proceeded to tell Job of the power and love of God to His children. Instead of being roused to protest by Elihu's statements of God's mercy, Job was silent while Elihu continued to tell him more and more about God. What a contrast between these true statements and the condemnations of Job's other friends!
"Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on God's behalf," Elihu said; and he further declared, "He is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict."
Job's thoughts were then turned from himself, his miseries, and his protests of innocence, to the realization of the omnipotence of God and the impotence of thought which is separated from God, the source of man's being. He uttered his repentance and bowed in complete submission to God. His friends then began to see the wrong trend of their arguments, and realized that they too knew little about God. Then comes the most comforting verse of all: "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before."
The writer once felt that she was in captivity. In her distress she turned to the Bible, and a wonderful light came with the reading of this verse. As we learn, through the study of Christian Science, how truly to pray for our friends, we have less time to think of our own so-called personal selfhood or imperfections; we "forget self in laboring for mankind" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 155), and spend more and more time in learning and thinking of the perfection of God and His creation.
A little boy in Sunday school was lost in wonder at the statement, "God is the parent Mind, and man is God's spiritual offspring" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 336). He told his little sister, who was sick, to declare this if she wished to get well. She did so, and was healed. Elihu made a similar statement when he declared that the spirit of God had made him. Yet, without the healing light which Christian Science brings into our lives, how few of us would have thought that the truth in those words could bring the cessation of pain!
Jesus knew that the truth would make us free; and his knowing it enabled him to nullify for others the effects of fear, ignorance, or sin. It is this truth which Mrs. Eddy has explained and given to the world in Science and Health, and through it thousands are being freed from all kinds of sin, sorrow, and suffering to-day. Now, as Christian Scientists, we can say, in the words of Job, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee."
