Lost Time (Time Out)

by Joshua Grant

  “Well, make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s not very nice of guests to just run off like that,” she said.

  She emphasized her words by jabbing her finger into my chest. “No, it certainly isn’t,” I agreed. “Where’s Job? I really need to talk to him.”

  “I’m afraid he’s taken a turn for the worse,” she said with a trembling voice. “His boils have only been increasing in size and quantity each day, and now that some of them have burst, a terrible disease has set in, turning his body a sickly color.” I didn’t want to upset this poor woman anymore than I already had. She had suffered enough. Surely, after losing her children to death and having her husband go through such pain, she must be in great emotional pain herself. Since I didn’t want to bother her, I simply asked her again where he was so I could leave her to her thoughts.

  “He’s outside with three of his friends. They arrived shortly after you disappeared last week and haven’t left since then. I’m afraid my husband has been getting a little depressed with all the pain he’s going through, so his friends came to console him.”

  I started to walk outside, but as I neared the door, I saw it rattling. No sooner had I lifted the latch than the door burst open, blowing the hot sand of the wilderness inside the house. With all my strength, I pushed through the wind and, once outside, closed the door. I saw Job and his three friends sitting not too far away from the house. I didn’t want to seem rude by disrupting their conversation, but hearing Job crying out loud in front of his friend made me realize that his conversation was a bit one-sided.

  “I have heard of you, God, but now my eyes see you!” he cried.

  I tried not to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help doing so as he continued his lament. “Lord, I take back anything bad I ever did. Please forgive me!”

  He’s praying, I thought as I walked closer. The closer I got, the more in detail I saw the effects the boils had left on his body. His skin was so red and blistered that it bordered on the un-human. Several of the boils had grown to the size of large grapes, while others had burst open, leaving behind a sickly green infection over the past days that I had been ‘away’.

  “I—” I started to speak to Job, but wasn’t even able to finish my sentence before an all too familiar voice boomed in my ears, and by their reaction, the ears of Job’s friends as well.

  “Eliphaz! My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have been speaking lies to Job about me. Therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams and offer up a burnt sacrifice for yourselves on this spot so Job can pray for you. I’ll accept his prayers so I don’t do to you what you deserve for your mistake.”

  As Job’s friends hung their heads in repentance, I beheld a miracle taking place. The scene almost appeared as a video played backwards, but being that I was in the presence of God, I knew this wasn’t simply a trick my eyes were playing on me. Job’s boils were disappearing, starting with the ones that had burst. The infection faded away until it was gone, and then the boils simply closed up. At the same time, the ones that had not yet burst began to shrink in size, first to the size of peas, then the size of pimples, and then they vanished completely.

  Almost as if he had known of my presence all along, Job turned to look at me, a smile on his face. I approached him in stunned awe.

  “Didn’t I tell you?” Job said with a lighthearted voice. “All you need is prayer and to always try to grow in your relationship with God, and He will see you through even the most difficult of trials.”

  I paused before him, and bowed my head with shame. “How can I ever repay you for what you’ve done for me?” I said. “You’ve not only shown me kindness in providing me, a stranger, a place to stay, but you’ve also given me invaluable advice on how to please God and grow in my relationship with Him.”

  With a wave of his hand, Job spoke again. “There is no need for repayment. However, if you really feel burdened to compensate me in some way, just promise that you will always be mindful of God and not become like I was. With all the wealth I had, I can see now that I had become a materialistic person. Of course, I still loved God, but all my belongings had formed a barrier to where I should have been in my relationship with God.”

  “I promise,” I said, with sincerity.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I must now pray for my friends and help them to properly atone for their mistakes before God.”

  With that, Job turned back to his friends. I decided it was time to leave, so I returned to the house and walked to my room to pick up the T.O.M. device. I did my best to convey my heartfelt thanks to Job’s wife for their hospitality, and then went back outside. I walked behind the house, and as I stood with my back against Job’s house examining the device, I noticed that I had done some damage to it when I stepped on it previously. Some of the buttons had been cracked, while others had been pressed down farther than intended and were now stuck beneath the casing. The T.O.M. device itself was seamless, so there was no hope of me opening this up to fix what buttons I could. Not that I would want to, of course, since I’d probably do more harm than good. I turned the device over in my hand, wondering how to fix it while simultaneously looking for any further damage. On the back of the device, opposite of the display screen on the other side, I noticed a small button marked with almost microscopic text just below it.

  “Random Play”, I muttered the words as I read them. I sighed, thinking to myself that I really didn’t want anymore surprises in my life at this point, but that I didn’t have much to lose anyway by pushing the button. It was one of those tiny, easy to miss buttons, recessed into a small round hole, one that you usually needed a pin or something small and pointy to press. I looked around the ground at my feet for anything I could use to press it, and found a small, stiff piece of straw about the length of my index finger. I pointed the device at the ground and, using the piece of straw, pressed the button. The usual beam of light shot out, although this time, it had a slightly different color to it. It was more of a reddish hue, similar to rust. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the portal into the unknown.

  To Be Continued…