I paused when I read Job’s complaint, my days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. I wondered, just how fast is a weaver’s shuttle? Is it quicker than a New York minute? Faster than greased lighting? Is it hell bent for leather? Quicker than a duck on a June bug? Faster than a scalded cat?

You can see my dilemma. So I googled weaver’s shuttles (my sister-in-law knows how to work a loom, so I thinking she’s the one person I know who understands this adage). As I watched this video, I gained an understanding of the picture Job shares. A weaver gets fast with her shuttle.

While I enjoyed my brief foray into weaving, Job’s larger point remains—life flies by. Job’s world took a terrible turn, and he’s speaking of life as short and life as hard. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.

Job expresses a universal condition, one we all understand. Life is challenging, difficult, and painful at times. It gives me hope to realize that the book of Job is perhaps the oldest in the Bible, and people have been dealing with these questions from the beginning. Job is you and me, set in far off days.

This bit of wisdom helps me remember to enjoy today, and the family and friends and co-workers and even strangers the Lord puts into my life. Because life is gone quicker than a wink—or a weaver’s shuttle.

Job 7 in week fifty of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Nick Wood