To,
All those who have lost hope, maybe you did nothing
wrong, maybe you have the best of others at heart, but you still suffer. It is
not that you are being punished but just like a vine must be pruned to bear
much fruit, so you too are being pruned to be an even better person.
Faith, humility, and hope: Job Story*
A wager in heaven
History,
mystery,
Legend or
lore,
Tale is
told of a man from Yore.
Job was
his name,
He had the wealth that would put Mr. Gates to shame,
Not a bit
proud was he,
Grounded
to the earth man was he,
He was
the greatest man in east,
But at
his tables the beggars enjoyed the feast.
He had wealth that was way beyond peoples’ health,
And his
health surpassed most peoples’ wealth,
But it
was not these that he relied;
For faith
and family were his greatest assets,
But what
good is faith if it is not tested in the fire of fate?
The
almighty with him was pleased,
For his
faith surpassed his wealth,
For his
faith surpassed his health.
Then from
the legions of almighty,
THE one
among many did arise;
The
opposer, the challenger, the
Shaitan did rise.
Shaitan;
“O,
mighty one, you need not be with Job pleased,
His
prayers are just for you to appease.
If
for a day, him you would not bless,
He
would pray to you a lot less.
Sham
is his faith,
For
he hasn’t been burnt by fate,
Deliver
him in my power for a while
And
I will expose that vile.”.
God’s
wisdom and knowledge was put to test,
It was
necessary to put the matter to rest,
He who
sits on the highest of all thrones commanded thus;
“Shaitan,
you are free to torment Job as you please,
But
his soul from his body shall you not release!
Do
to him, all that you will,
But,
him shall you not kill.
Then
when all of this is done,
for eons let the tale of Job be told….
Who
withstood all sufferings, yet loved me alone.”.
Shaitan,
“I
will set upon him my malice free,
And
attack him with torments three.”
Torment 1: Gone is your wealth
Robbers
from east,
Raiders from west,
Stole his
cattle,
Fires
from heaven burned his sheep,
Butchered
were his servants,
Killed
were his men,
Gone was
all his wealth.
Torment 2: Gone is your family
Winds
from hell,
Turned
towards the house, where your children were feasting well,
The house
on them did fell,
Saved was
my beloved head,
But all
your ten children are dead,
The saved
servant did tell.
In a
jiffy,
Gone was
his entire family.
Torment 3: Gone is your health
He tore
his robe,
Tore his
last strand of hair,
And bare
before the lord he lay.
“Naked I
came from my mother’s womb,
And naked
I will return there.
The Lord
gives, and the Lord takes away.
May the
name of the Lord be blessed!”
Though
everything he had,
He had
lost, yet he did not sin,
Not a
word,
Against
the almighty from his mouth be heard,
The
Shaitan was getting impatient, for he expected by now to win,
He sent
plagues to pound Job’s bone and flesh,
He
suffered from ulcers from head to toe.
Then with
these parting words his left his beloved wife;
“To your
God be woe,
Your body
is a huge sore,
Curse him
and end your miserable life.”
Though
the fate with its cruellest dagger at him had lunge,
But from
his faith this man did not budge,
Though in
pain he found it hard even to stutter,
Not a single
word against almighty did he utter;
“He had
given and he has taken it away.”
He cursed
the day he was born,
But not
the one who had created it.
Accusers three
In the
name of comforting thee,
Came his
old friends three,
And
though they all acted wise,
They were
hypocrites in disguise;
They
asked him to;
Repent
for the sins, he had never done,
Accused
him of crimes he had never committed,
Though in
their hearts they may have wished him well,
But in
their minds Satan did dwell,
For they
had committed his favourite sin;
Vanity,
Vanity, Vanity!!
In their
hearts they were comforting him,
But with
their tongues they just hissed:
“You are
unjust you are vile!
We have
been good all the while,
God
indeed does you hate,
And you
deserve your fate!!”
Job tried
to justify;
Before
them in his innocence,
He did
cry,
But
bewitched was their sense,
Their
empathy and sympathy had run dry,
And so
the three who had come to comfort thee,
Unknowingly,
became the greatest accusers of thee.
`
His wisdom, not my strength
He cried,
he pleaded,
He challenged;
Not the
power of the almighty,
But “why
him? Why him? Why him?!
He
questioned almighty’s plan and design for him,
He
questioned almighty’s justice.
His
lamentations reached heaven,
The
almighty couldn’t any more Job’s pain take,
For
indeed a father’s heart at Job’s condition ache,
And,
Then
there was a storm,
Unlike
the one that had swallowed his children whole,
Though
the land was all wet, his heartfelt warm,
Coz it
was the Lord speaking through the storm.
The lord
spoke not like a mother,
Who would
grant his child all the world’s care,
But like
a father whose heart for his child did pain,
But none
visible to his child,
For today;
Job in humility and futility he had to train.
God
questioned Job’s knowledge, his wisdom and his power,
And then
there he lay with no answers before the divine one,
The
almighty asked him the last question;
When he
couldn’t answer the simpler questions like;
Where is
the way to the home of light?
And where
does darkness dwell?
Who has
the wisdom to count the clouds?
And;
If he had
no power to set the limits of oceans
or
command over the thunder and rain,
How could
he then question the God’s plan?
How could
he question his sense of justice then?
He then
lay prostrated there,
And as he
beat his chest bare,
He cried
in bitter tears;
He had
the served the Lord all these years,
His
prayers had been heard for years,
But when
there came upon him fear,
He
questioned his maker.
There as
he cried like the firstborn,
Calmed
was the storm,
Yet there
was almighty in a glorious sunrise,
And then
when he lifted his head,
Gone were
all his ailments,
His flesh
was healed,
His pain
all gone,
His accusers
stood there ashamed,
For him,
had almighty blessed.
He wasn’t
a condemned sinner who was cut off from the vine of life,
But just
stood there,
A just
man pruned.
His
stature grew like never before;
He became
richest in wealth,
He became
supreme in health,
He was
blessed with so much more….
And all
this was not because;
He had
been steadfast in his faith,
He had
withstood tempest’s test,
He had
helped the poor,
To the
needy, was open his door,
But,
Because
almighty in his wisdom knew,
What he
deserved and when to give it to him.
Moral
So,
Next
time, when from your trials you are weary,
And begin
to wonder is this your righteousness’ cost,
Remember
the Job story;
No good
deed is ever lost,
The wage
of your faith is not death.
Just feel
the pain, experience the loss,
Rely on
the almighty’s wisdom,
For if in
his wisdom, you are to rise,
Then like
a phoenix from ashes will you arise.
-Published originally in the ebook:
* The poem is a work inspired by the book of Tobit, the poet does not claim that the poem is historically or biblically accurate. The poet while exercising creative liberty has made a sincere effort to protect the intent and content of the book any inconsistency or inaccuracy is highly regretted. The readers are encouraged to read the book of Tobit for a better understanding of the scripture.
