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The Churning Inside

“The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.”  (Job 30:27) (NIV)

I think I first noticed that verse due to the word “churning”.  I don’t know about you, but I know that there are times when my gut starts to churn.

In thinking about what it might mean to have this churning going on inside me, I looked at how some other versions of the Bible translated the verse.  I found some very interesting ways in which the word has been translated:

“My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me.”  (ESV)

“I am seething within and my heart is troubled and cannot rest; days of affliction come to meet me.”  (AMP)

“My stomach is tied in knots; pain is my daily companion.”  (CEV)

“I constantly feel upset. And my suffering has only just begun.”  (ERV)

“I am torn apart by worry and pain; I have had day after day of suffering.”  (GNT)

“My heart seethes and never stops; days of suffering confront me.”  (TLV)

“I am boiling on the inside, and it will not quit; yet the days of misery still come for me.”  (VOICE)

Exploring those various words has helped me become more aware of what it means to have a churning going on inside me.  For me, it usually comes when I feel out of control or stressed or discouraged or in despair.  And given all that is going on in our world, it’s so easy for me to experience any or all those things and the churning can get even worse. 

A psalmist once wrote:  “I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” (Ps 27:13)   Despair is the complete loss or absence of hope and I can certainly testify that some serious churning happens inside me when I start to despair!

I would note that I don’t believe the psalmist was providing a quick fix for when we despair.  But he does state what we need to do when despair is upon us.  We need to believe that God is good.  While His goodness is not always so readily seen and easily understood, nonetheless it is still true that God is good all of the time.  And as we believe that God is good and cling to that truth, despair can melt away.

 

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