Job 10:8

Your hands shaped and made me,

   Every part of me,

      Yet now, you would destroy me.

One of the many challenges to being me is the response of my sinuses to stimuli. Right now, there is something in the air and my left ear is itching like crazy. My thoughts keep running to “Why is my medicine not working, anyone of them?” I know that everyone has issues of some kind and that mine are not bad on any relative scale, but it is hard to see my kids struggle with many of the same issues that I passed on to them.

“Shaped” was also “fashioned” and “made”. “Made” was also “fashioned” and “kneaded”. Fashioned and kneaded were probably more poetic, but somehow, I landed on shaped and made.

“Every part of me” was extracted from a single source describing “me” in the final stitch. The Hebrew term here seemed lost with several sources skipping it and others using “altogether”, “together, roundabout”, an “intricate unity”, and something about turning around. I liked the idea of intricate unity but felt it a little over the top for such lack of consistency of meaning.

“Destroy” was also “devour”.

I know Job was in a bad spot, but when I think of destroy, I think of no longer existing, and for a person that means dead. They say there are worse things than being dead. I may not be able to understand, but I can see situations that would seem so. For me, I have to believe that as long as we can think, we can think about God, and we can have some positive aspects to continuing to live. And yes, being in heaven with God is better, but that is so for even the best life we have here. Maybe the focus we should have is thanksgiving for each and every blessing, even if it is to have an itchy ear you can’t scratch. God brings us blessings, and each is wonderful and worthy to be praised. Even if someone else thinks it’s only a sappy praise song.

(Written 12/8, Posted 12/16, Job 216)