After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. - Job 3:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 14, 2012): Job 3

Everyone has their favorite Christmas movies – the ones that just have to be watched every year as the holiday comes around. At my house those movies would include one of the renditions of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” (although the one with Alistair Sim in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge is often requested), one of the versions of “Miracle on 34^th Street,” and usually “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

The story of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” follows the actions of George Bailey on Christmas Eve as he contemplates committing suicide. George’s problem is that he questions whether or not his life has made a difference. And the moral of the story is that we all make a difference – even when we don’t think that we do. In the story, it is an angel named Clarence that shows George the error of his way by showing him an alternate reality where he had never existed. In the end, George realizes the difference that he has made and just wants to go home.

There are maybe a few reasons to want to end your life. In our culture the main reason is pain, but I wonder if the more distressing reason is because of a lack of significance. For George Bailey, it was the significance question that was the forefront of his mind. And I believe that it was for Job as well.

I don’t want to minimize the pain that Job was going through. Just reading through the account of Job’s illness can make you hurt for him. But it isn’t the pain that has brought him to the point of wishing he had never been born. It is that he feels that he has nothing to show for his life. He valued his kids, but they are gone. To a lesser extent he valued his material possessions, but they are gone as well. Everything that he has worked his life to achieve has vanished. It is literally as if he had never lived. And so he wishes that the day he was born was gone as well.

What Job underestimates is the same thing that George Bailey underestimated. Job’s worth was only partially found in the size of his now non-existent bank account and in the presence of the family that he loved. Job had touched the community around him and the friends (even though soon they will begin to say some stupid things) that gathered around him in silence were proof of that community. He had made a difference.

And that is the story of your life. Whether you realize it or not, you are making a difference. The only real question is – what kind of a difference are you making?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 4