Read Job 29 and 30 together and it’s a dickens of a contrast — the best of times and the worst of times.

Chapter 29 is Job at his best, a force to be reckoned with. In his prime (29:4), people deferred when in his presence (29:7-10). He was a champion of the poor and fatherless, the widow’s ray of joy (29:12-13). He was a crusader for justice for the under-classed (29:14-17). He was the E.F. Hutton of the ancient world, “When Job talks, people listen” (29:21-22).

Yessir, those were the days. The days when “the friendship of God” was on his tent (29:4). His glory days, days of power when, as Job declares, “my bow [was] ever new in my hand” (29:20). Those were the best of times.

And then, those ominous words which open chapter 30 . . . “But now . . . ”

Now, for whatever reason, because of the collapse of his material empire, because of the calamity of losing all his children, because of a countenance so diminished by physical compromise, the world that once so respected him, now derided him. They laughed at him (30:1). They then recoiled from him and kept their distance from him. If by chance they should look upon him, it was only to spit at him (30:10). They blindsided him, tripped him up, and jumped on him, though he was already down. They threw every form of obstacle in his way, determined to ruin him, unwilling to lift a finger to help him (30:12-13 MSG).

And how come? What conclusion is Job left to draw? God has turned on him (30:21). And the bow that once was ever new in his hand, is now undone.

“They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.” ~ Job

(Job 30:10-11 ESV)

Because God has loosed my cord . . . That’s the phrase that strikes me this morning.

God’s unstrung my bow. He’s slackened the string and so has rendered my weapon and its arrows useless. My vigor is gone, my defenses are removed. My power a thing of the past. And because God has disarmed me, those around me “cast off restraint in my presence.”

The end result? God has humbled me.

Suffering has a way of doing that, of humbling a person. Seemingly uncontrollable and unjust circumstances have a way of hamstringing our ability to justify ourselves. The evaporation of authority and ability — the emptying of the quiver of self-sufficiency — has a way of compelling us to want to hear from the only One who can make any sense of seemingly senseless situation. But even then, sometimes all we get from the Almighty is silence and a blank stare (30:20).

As I chew on Job’s lament — his before and after heartbreak — I know that through it God has Job exactly where He wants Job.

God has . . . humbled me . . .

For blessed are the poor in spirit, because their’s is the kingdom (Matt. 5:3), and they are never more ready to see the King than when they are at the end of themselves. For He whose name is Holy, who dwells in the high and holy place, also abides with those “of a contrite and lowly spirit”, and will, in His perfect time and according to His perfect purpose, revive the low spirited and give new life to the crushed heart (Isa. 57:15).

Not that I’d choose the way of Job, not that I’d want to live the contrast he had to live. But also, not that I would change anything I have endured which has “loosed my cord and humbled me.” For it is when our bow is undone — when our self-sufficiency is no longer enough — it is then that we experience the all-sufficiency of His grace, and we experientially know that His power really is manifest in our weakness (2Cor. 2:9). It is when we are humbled that we are primed and ready to be lifted up (1Peter 5:6); to see the God who has for so long seemed to be unseeable; to hear the God who, for too long, had seemed to be silent.

I will extol you, O LORD, for You have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. . . . O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. . . . Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

(Psalm 30:1, 3, 5 ESV)

When the cord is loosed, when the bow is undone, get ready. For God will be known in a way He’s never been known before. (Just read the rest of Job)

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.