Job 16:18
O earth, cover not my blood,
Let my cry have no resting place.
As I have widened my path to find rare baseball cards, I have noticed some tricks that people play on Facebook and Instagram to get you to click on their post. This is an instant trigger that they want me to buy something, so I move on. But every so often, I am intrigued enough to look what I can up on the internet. Today I was intrigued by a controversial banned movie and searched for a list. Wow. A list of evil.
‘Cover’ was once also ‘conceal’.
‘Cry’ was once also ‘scream’. A couple times, ‘resting place’ was simple ‘place’. That changes meaning, but not in a way I liked.
During Bible study this morning, several of us mentioned how we were not always responding to prompts at work at well as we could. The lesson was from Romans 8, and I walked away with a desire to delay my personal responses for versions led by God and to plan responses with forethought. Both require a little more self-control than I have on my own, but both are achievable if I lean into the power of the Holy Spirit. So, when I scream out in my car in frustration, it’s probably best that no ones hears what I say.
I know that every one has to deal with anger as even Jesus was angry with the temple money changers. I do mainly get mad at my personal shortcomings dealing with technology, but even discounting dealing with traffic, I sometimes lose my cool on other topics. Today, I actually planned out the scheduling of a new medicine regime to avoid getting mad at myself for missing days like I have been. I have struggled all year with a few things, but I see progress happening as I gear up for the rest of the year.
When I read about covering up blood, I do think back over the Biblical sayings on murder and vengeance and all that. But Job hasn’t been murdered, and his lament over his condition is overblown. He recovers with twice the fortune he had before. As God never responds to these wailings by Job, we know that doing so was not a salvation issue. But I wonder how Job’s witness to others living with him was damaged by his rants.
Back in the day at BP, a personality test showed how I ‘came out of my shell’ to do my job at work and went back into it once I got home. I never really thought I was being two faced or anything, but I knew God was calling me to work with the skills and abilities He had given me, and to live outside work with the gifts and blessing He bestowed.
Written 7/25/25, Posted 9/6/25, Job 391/~1070