Whine, whine, whine

You know, everyone here keeps complaining that the weather has been unseasonably cold and rainy this year. It's Oregon. It's about what I expected. :)
Actually, I am grateful. I like warm weather, between 70 and 80 degrees. Anything too much more gets to be a bit much.
Actually, I've been thinking a lot about complaining this week. Well, more about self-pity. We get out of joint so easily, the people who are complaining about the cool weather now, complain about the heat as soon as it warms up. Not that I can talk. I've been really struggling with my health issues lately. The last month has been pretty brutal. Lots of restless nights, lots of pain killers during the days. And the temptation is to cmpare myself to other people who are not in pain every day. To wonder what that is like. And then of course to pity myself because I have to struggle more and work harder to accomplish what I do. I get tired of this life that I live.
Knowing that this was building up in my heart again (it comes periodically) I was praying about it, and about getting my heart attitude right. As it happened I had just finished reading James and was also praying about which book I should start in next (not reading in any order at the moment, although I do sometimes). Job came to mind. And I go tall excited. Was practically dancing around the living room. lol
Now, I know most people don't get excited about Job. But he is my most favorite Bible character. There is just so much to learn from him. And so much comfort to be gained from his namesake book. I think I like Job because he is always a challenge to me, something to live up to. To strive towards. This is a man that God boasted about. Yet we hear him cursing the day of his birth and expressing the anguish of his soul very...well, very clearly. He definitely didn't hold back.
Some people try to point out that while yes, Job suffered, God blessed him twofold at the end. But you know, that wasn't a promise that Job had to cling to. Job had no explanation for his suffering. He had no reason that he could discern. And he had no promise of an end for it or of anything good to come from it. All he knew was that God had suddenly turned on him. He had ripped away his wealth and with it his status. On top of that his beloved children were taken from him and here he was a parent who had to bury ten children, all at once. Most parents feel robbed if even one of their children dies before they do. They feel it is unfair, wrong, a mistake in the natural order of things. Then Job's wife deserts him spiritually and emotionally. So wrapped up in her own sorrow and grief that she can not even help her husband when he is overtaken by severe and painful illness. And of course, Job's friends. Lovely people. Sympathetic. Kind-hearted, faithful. Really the type of people who believe the best about you. :|
Job had to go through all of this without rhyme or reason. No explanations. No hopeful promises like Abraham had. And half way through, God is still boasting about him. And at the end, we see that Job has remained faithful and pure. Truly a man of integrity and virtue. And faith.
Despite Job's anguished cries that he should not have been born, despite his questioning what he had done to so inspire the wrath of God, he is not self-pitying. He doesn't sit on his ash heap and say, "Poor me, nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. I have the hardest life ever. Nobody can understand my pain. Nobody else has ever suffered like me. I'm going to lay here and moan and groan until someone comes to comfort me." He did sit on his ash heap. It was as close as he could come to a hospital bed. Boils are extremely painful, even just having one is excruciating (I understand, haven't had any myself, but friends have), so being covered in them from head to foot, well, I wouldn't expect him to be living his normal life. But even there, I don't get the idea that he was pitying himself and seeking attention from others. "Comfort" (really just attention usually, we want someone to listen to us whine and agree and tell us how hard our lives really are). I don't get the idea that he was bright and cheery and just trying to put on a brave face, either. He was honest. He was in pain, physically, emotionally and spiritually. And it was evident. His friends didn't speak to him for a whole week out of respect for his anguish (although when they did they were pretty...well, what's a friend for if you can't kick them when they are down?). But in all of this, Job keeps his faith in God. His heart is set on God. He doesn't understand. He hurts terribly. He knows that God has the power to change his circumstances, that He could have prevented them even! But still his heart can not leave God's.
In the prologue it says twice that Job did not sin in what he said. And in the epilogue it shows God chastising Job's friends for what they said about Him (God, not Job), but standing up for Job.
Job is my hero. How can I pity myself or complain or whine when I see this man who suffered so very terribly, yet was truly and purely faithful to God? Would that I could be that glorifying to God.