Days of Affliction

Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help? Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me.
Job 30:24–27
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Days of Affliction
“You get what you give,” and “karma” are ideas which are prevalent in society today. Yet they are not new.  Job seems to put forth these notions. “Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?” In other words, I felt bad for others and wanted the best for them. When others hurt, I too hurt. Is this not enough now to keep at bay all the calamity which has befallen me? I have been good, should not good come to me? It just does not seem fair that the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. Yet, so is the result of living in a fallen and broken world, as sinful and broken people.  Our own sins have a way of catching up to us and causing us pain, this we can understand. Even the fact that the sins of others can cause us pain and suffering is comprehensible. But to suffer for no apparent reason is unbearable to us. And in our plea for justice and fairness, we overlook Christ.  We overlook the sins He bore. Our sins, which we heaped upon Him He carried to the cross.  We forget that if karma was a real thing, then we would all be in a much worse position than ever Job finds himself in.  The only innocent Man to ever live, died for the sins of others. He took upon Himself the punishment meant for us so that we might have a broken relationship restored. He did it without complaint, without resentment, without the “Woe is me!” attitude we exhibit. We deserve death, but we are given life! In Christ we are made anew. In His blood we are washed clean. In Him our days of affliction are over.