In Job 7, Job laments his suffering and fleeting life, feeling burdened and restless. He questions why God even pays attention to him, expressing anguish over his relentless trials and yearning for relief or death.
True Purpose in God
Job 7:1-2 (VOICE): “Don’t we humans struggle long and hard in our time on earth? Don’t we live our lives as common labourers? As slaves longing for shade, as workers pining for wages.”
In these verses, Job expresses the universal feeling of human struggle—days filled with hard work and nights waiting for rest or a sense of fulfilment. Life often feels like toil, with fleeting moments of satisfaction. Job’s words echo the hardships many face, where days seem endless, and the promise of lasting joy feels just out of reach. Psalm 89:47 (NLV): “Remember how fast my life is passing. You have made all men for nothing.”
Ecclesiastes 1:14 (NLV): “I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun. And see, it is all for nothing. It is like trying to catch the wind.” Linking it to Ecclesiastes 5:16 (NLV): “This also is very wrong: As a man is born, this is the way he will leave. So what does the man get who works for the wind?”
Affirming Deeper Purpose
These passages from the Psalms and Ecclesiastes affirm Job’s sense that, without deeper purpose, earthly life feels transient and ultimately unsatisfying. Our lives, despite our best efforts, are brief and easily consumed by work and worry. Pursuits of wealth, status, or comfort, without a deeper connection to God, can feel as fleeting as “chasing the wind.” True, lasting life, however, is found only in Christ. Many people seek fulfilment through achievements or pleasures, yet they find themselves still yearning.
Romans 8:5-8 (MSG): “Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.” This passage from Romans cautions against self-centred living, which only leads to frustration and emptiness. True fulfilment comes from a God-cantered life, where we stop striving for self-perfection and instead trust in God’s Spirit working within us. Focusing on God rather than ourselves brings freedom and a genuine sense of purpose.
Job 12:10 (ESV): “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” God’s sustaining power is in every breath we take, reminding us that our lives are gifts from Him and have meaning only when aligned with His purpose. Furthermore Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG) reads: “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
In Christ, we discover our identity and purpose. God has designed each of us for a meaningful, purposeful life that is fulfilled when we embrace His plan. As Rick Warren puts it, “We were made by God and for God—and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”
Without God, life feels like an endless cycle of striving. But in God, there is lasting peace, purpose, and a hope that surpasses all earthly achievements and trials.