Job 16

Eliphaz and his friends accused Job of attacking God. Job claimed it was the other way around: "I was living in comfort, but He has taken that away. He has taken hold of me by the neck and shaken me to pieces." (vs 12) Commentators are divided (on this verse and the surrounding ones) as to whether the "he" is referring to God or Satan. Regardless, we’re going to proceed as if Job was talking about God. Have you ever felt like life was going along smoothly, and all of a sudden, God stepped in and messed it up?

When I first became a parent, I was shocked that nobody warns you about the first several weeks. They're brutal! I think mommies and daddies go into parenthood all starry-eyed, thinking that their baby is going to be like the ones normally seen on TV—quiet and still. Then, whammo!, the baby comes and reality hits, and there's no going back.

In preparation for the arrival of our first daughter, we read a book called The Happiest Baby on the Block. Naturally, we wanted one of those. The premise of the book is that the first three months of a child’s life are really like the "fourth trimester." Thus, the book recommends swaddling (a technique of wrapping the baby tightly in blankets so movement is restricted) and loud "white noise." That’s what was most surprising to me. We think babies like quiet places, but the author of this book says it’s the opposite. Apparently, it’s very noisy in the womb, so loud "white noise" (ala the vacuum cleaner) is actually soothing to an infant. This noise, combined with the swaddling, simulates the cozy, familiar environment of the womb and has a calming effect on a fussy baby.

It works. We know. Our first baby was a very fussy one, and this was one of the only things that worked to calm her down.

But it didn't always work at the drop of a hat, and we weren’t so eager to always go with this method right off the bat. You see, Caroline didn't like to be swaddled. At least, she thought she didn't like it. If she was fussy and we put her in the swaddle, most of the time, she would scream louder and try to kick harder. So, we went through a short phase where we laid off the swaddle... but that didn't last long.

One day, my husband was trying to put Caroline down for a nap. She was a little fussy, but he was working with her to settle her down. He rocked her, shushed her, walked with her, and patted her back. This went on for quite some time. Finally, she was in a deep sleep, and just as he was laying her down in her crib, she had one of those "startling issues" that all newborns have. And without warning, her little hand flew up, and she hit herself in the nose.

Needless to say, that was the end of the sleeping.

And it was also the end of us not swaddling Caroline when it was time for bed. You see, she never liked it at first. In fact, I'm sure that if she could have talked then, she might have echoed Job's sentiment: I was so comfortable, but you’ve taken that away. She bucked the swaddling initially, but when she eventually got calmed down and off to sleep, the swaddling ensured a much longer, much more peaceful nap. And that was not only best for Mom and Dad, it was best for her, too! (And if there are any new parents reading this and going through something similar with their infants, do yourself a favor and buy one of these: https://www.sleepingbaby.com/ From one parent to another, “You’re Welcome.”)

In the Our Daily Bread devotional for Job 16, David Roper tells the story of ground squirrels who hibernate close to his home every year. In the spring, he and his wife enjoy watching them scurry back and forth, making their little homes in the surrounding hills. But Roper and his wife live at the edge of a golf course, and every year, an employee from the golf course comes to exterminate the squirrels because they dig holes and destroy the fairways.

Roper says that always makes him so sad that he has tried to think of ways to force the squirrels out at the end of winter. He tries to think of how he could find and break up their nests and chase and scare them away—so they wouldn’t meet a worse fate. "If I could," he writes, "I’d chase the little animals away. I’d destroy their holes and force them to settle someplace else. I’m sure they would resent my interference, but my actions would be solely for their good."

So it is with God. He knows what is best for us, and He will do what is best for us—even if it distresses us terribly. And whether He causes or allows things to come that make us uncomfortable, we can know that He has our best interests at heart. Whether it’s a longer sleep or a longer life, God uses the discomforts we encounter as blessings. So if, as Job said, "I was living in comfort, but He has taken that away," we can trust that God knows what He’s doing and that the end result will be for good.