Job 7:4

When I lie down, I ask: “When shall I rise.”

   Night drags on, I say: “I am sated with tossing before dawn.”

(Written 3/29, Posted 4/11)

Skipping ahead, “ask” was also suggested as “say” (which is not appropriate for a question) and “think” (which is fine, but not my favorite). The two sources that get it wrong the most had “How long before I can get up” rather than the more poetic “when shall I rise” that also carries more nuance.

I was presented with several phrases for “night drags on”, but three seemed to miss the pint of dragging on and two did not seem poetic. Only one source kept the quote format. The variations on “sated with tossing before dawn” were numerous, but each had the same basic meaning.

I have often had nights when I wonder if I will ever go to sleep. My brain keeps working and my tricks to shut it down do not seem to work. I read a new theory about trying to do math, but I do not know how it is working as I keep falling asleep before I can get through one problem.

The worst was at the beginning of the month when I had the flu or whatever it was. Not sleeping is one thing, but not being able to turn off the discomfort and pain is another. I wonder if it was the pain that Job is talking about and not just a normal “I cannot sleep” feeling.

In studying each verse and then writing about it over a year later, I sometimes get confused about where in the sequence the message is. Job spoke only chapter 3 before Eliphaz railed on him for two chapters. This is the middle of Job responding to Eliphaz before anyone else has spoken. I still believe this is just a play and time passed between each speech that we do not get to know about. My favorite time sequence is still in Avengers: End Game. “Five (pause) Years (pause) Later”

In a few months (actually 50 days), I will get to Job in my “read a chapter a day” sequence. I will be reading the New King James version. (Which all of a sudden seems really weird. And now I have a new goal to read each of my sources before I finish my process. Eight times forty-two is a lot of days of reading. I will have to plan that out.)

Many times, when people talk about finances, they are dominated by retirement. Many times, when people talk about retirement, they are dominated by what they will do in the future. Many times, when people talk about heaven, they are dominated by how great it will be. During the time with the high schoolers this week, I mentioned how some of the stuff we will do in heaven can be duplicated here on earth: Love God, Worship God, Love others, etc. It makes me think that we should not put off doing good until retirement, but that we should arrange our lives to squeeze in the best parts of the future today. I may not want to work until I am 87, but I definitely want to be loving God and others when I am 87. While I have set financial goals around when we hope to be empty nesters, I want to make sure I do not put off the good I can do now for the good I might do in the future. Maybe I can even be like my mentor and take restless nights as opportunities to pray and spend more time with God.