If Life Feels Like Drudgery…

No one knew more loss and suffering than Job in the Bible. I don’t know why God called me to write a modern-day novel based on the Book of Job other than that I felt like I was in the depths of despair at that point in my life – and, like Job says, life was like drudgery and I felt like I would not see happiness again. All I know is that the idea wouldn’t let go, and looking back, I know writing my first published novel, “The Faithful One,” helped me through that time of misery and despair…I was losing my marriage and my business, I didn’t feel close to my kids, and I was suffering with the disease of alcoholism. Eventually, like Job, I held onto a shred of faith and life got better – I remarried, I became closer with my kids, I found recovery through the grace of God and I discovered my purpose in life – that of being an author who writes modern-day Bible stories, fiction that re-imagines Old Testament stories in the Bible.

But that all took time, many years in fact, and still today I can have moments or even days or weeks where I experience feeling down, even depressed, where life seems like drudgery or I’m just not happy. I think we all probably do. We experience financial difficulty like Job did. Or we get sick or have health issues like Job did. Or we experience loss, like Job did. Or people hurt us or betray us or let us down like Job’s wife and friends did. Or sometimes our days just seem like drudgery, our dreams are deferred or delayed, and we just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully we don’t experience all of that at once like Job did! But even experiencing pain in any one area of our lives makes it hard to be happy sometimes.

So what do we do in those instances? What is the solution? Did Job have the answers? Well, I would say yes and no. I did research on the Book of Job through the Anchor Bible series version, by having my book edited and authenticated by various members of the clergy, and of course by reading, re-reading and meditating on the original Book itself. Job does get to a place where he just wants to give up and die, which isn’t a good solution. But he also does hold onto a shred of faith by staying in communication with God. And he rebukes his friends (as does the prophet Elihu who God sends to counsel Job through his despair) – when those friends tell Job that the reason he is suffering so much loss and pain is because he is being “punished” by God for his sins, which simply isn’t true.

The answer lies in the fact that we can’t see God’s plan, but that God does have a plan for our lives…and He does reward us in the end if we can just have hope and faith. If you can look at your troubles as temporary and hang onto the hope that “this too shall pass” and nothing lasts forever….and you can hold onto your faith that God never gives us more than we can handle, and He will always see us through our pain and suffering and reward us in the end…that’s a good start to turning things around if you’re feeling unhappy or life feels like drudgery. Also, it’s good to have friends who can empathize or can relate, listen without judging, cheer you on in pursuing your dreams, and brighten your spirits by being supportive. But if you have friends who just bring you down further, than maybe it’s time to find new friends! They say in the 12-Step Program to “stick with the winners” – those who find a way to be happy despite their setbacks, those who have hope and faith.

I think we can all benefit by reading the Book of Job and realizing that life does get better if we hang in there and hold onto our faith that God has a plan.