You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor. – Job 11:19

Today's Scripture Reading (July 9, 2021): Job 11

Theodore Roosevelt argued that "We should not forget that it will be just as important to our descendants to be prosperous in their time as it is to us to be prosperous in our time." It is a teaching that haunts me. My fear is not that we will never be prosperous in our time but that we are trying to gain our prosperity at the expense of those who come after us. I don't want to achieve prosperity for myself and, at the same time, condemn my children and my grandchildren to a life of struggle. There has to be a better way.

Of course, the other part of the problem is our definition of prosperity. What is it that we are trying to achieve? What will make us feel prosperous within our society? And the answer to that question is not necessarily an easy one to answer. Maybe it is money. We all want to be financially independent and able to obtain the expensive things in life. It is a definition to which proponents of some sort of equalization system for national wealth hold. We will be prosperous if we reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. Those who suggest that there should be some sort of national paycheque, even if it is just a thousand dollars a month, have bought into this definition of prosperity.

But others believe that money by itself can never make us prosperous. They argue that prosperity is more than the amount of money you possess. Prosperity means a level of security, even if it is just the ability to walk down the street and know that you won't be attacked, or to be able to sit in your house or lie down in your bed and feel that you are safe from those who might want to cause you harm. We are secure because we know that those who want to rob us can't get in, and the police who are supposed to protect us won't shoot blindly into the place where we are. This is the fabric of prosperity.

There is yet another element of prosperity. Prosperity is also the reality that someone looks up to us and wants to be with us. We all need to have people in our lives who actively want to be with us and will listen to our thoughts with solemnity. We all need to have at least one person who seeks us out to ask our advice.

So, more than just financial security, prosperity often depends on the somewhat intangible qualities of feeling secure and respected. We can have all the money we need and yet not be prosperous because we are not safe, nor do we feel respected. And this is the point that Zophar, the Naamathite, tries to make. His argument is that

if you devote your heart to him [God]
    and stretch out your hands to him,
if you put away the sin that is in your hand
    and allow no evil to dwell in your tent (Job 11:13-14)

then God's blessing will be with you. And you will be prosperous because you will be safe and respected.

Of course, the life of Job proves that that is not necessarily true. The reader knows that Job has led a life that honored God, yet, he has suffered greatly. Yet, at this moment, the Prophet feels neither safe nor respected by the friends who have gathered around him in his misery.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 2