ESOCS Devotional 3 November 2025 – Is Life Fair?
MEMORY VERSE: “Oh, that my grief were fully weighed, And my calamity laid with it on the scales! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea– Therefore my words have been rash.” Job 6:2-3
TEXT: JOB 6:1-14
Then Job answered and said:
2 “Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,
And my calamity laid with it on the scales!
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea—
Therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me;
My spirit drinks in their poison;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass,
Or does the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 My soul refuses to touch them;
They are as loathsome food to me.
8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
That God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 That it would please God to crush me,
That He would loose His hand and cut me off!
10 Then I would still have comfort;
Though in anguish I would exult,
He will not spare;
For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11 “What strength do I have, that I should hope?
And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh bronze?
13 Is my help not within me?
And is success driven from me?
14 “To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend,
Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
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We all think that life should be fair but what if it’s not? What if the scales are already tipped? Is life fair? We see the images of Lady Justice in our mind blindfolded with scales in her hand. The scales are in balance but is that reality? What if they are tipped? We would say that we were not treated fairly. Job does.
Some were born in wealth, some in poverty. Some were born black, some were born white. Some were born physically whole, some were born with physical challenges. Some were born male, some were born female. Some were born tall, some were born short. Some were born with a high IQ, others were born simple. Do we ever examine the justice of this? Those things, which we were born with most of us do not question. Those are things we consider as “normal”. We have no control over them. It is the hand, which we have been dealt at birth and we accept it. But when the cards are re-shuffled in the middle of the game and if we get a bad hand, we complain.
Job will now claim that what is happening to him is not fair. He does not see that he has gone down the wrong path because as far as the story goes, he has not. As you recall, suffering comes on the just and the unjust. We live in a fallen world and we all suffer if not for our sins, because of and for the sins of others.
Job uses the image of a scale or a balance to show how heavy his grief is – “If only my grief could be weighed and my devastation placed with it on a scale. For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas! That is why my words are rash” (Job 6:2-3 HCSB); “For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass, or does the ox low over its fodder? Can flavourless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them; they are as loathsome food to me” (vv. 4-7).
Dearly beloved, life outcomes are a determination of divinity; man has little power or nothing to do with what the day brings; rather, let him depend on Him who knows the end from the very beginning.
CHALLENGES
- What is your attitude towards God when you face trials and temptations or when afflictions come?
PRAYER POINT
- Father, teach us to always depend on you completely in every aspect of our lives. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Job 6:15-30; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13; 4:1-End
ESOCS Devotional 3 November 2025
