Perseverance

In adversity we can be in the depths of despair. We may be in danger of seeing things the wrong way distorted by emotions and make the wrong decisions. We favour the rejection of life itself, it appears to be no good, a mistake or a waste of time and had rather not been born. We are not prepared to take it any more. The commonly held view that Job was patient is troublesome and incorrect. The word used actually means steadfastness or perserverance which is quite a different meaning. He is not patient. There is a transition from patience to impatience. He complains, 'Why?' Repeatedly asked it can provoke debate. If we had not been born, we could live a trouble free existence. Why make a gift of something that is painful to endure? A common explanation is divine judgement, but perhaps not everything is divine judgement. Do people worship God for themselves and their own profit? What is God's will? There are 2 ways of looking at justice. Firstly, for the poor and oppressed justice means liberation and salvation. Another is to see justice as destruction and retribution. It was traditional. It was also understood that Samaritans were hostile to Jews and did not like them in their territory. The Christian attitude to Samaritans converted them.