Back to Job

I can't read Job's words without my own eyes welling up with tears. That sounds hokey, but it's true.

Job 12:5 --> "People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling." (NLT)

I have felt on the receiving end of this bit of truth. But I am confident unfortunately that I have been on the pushing end as well. And if there is one thing I would have you pray for me today, it would be that that would not be the case again -- I cannot stand to see it happen to others, I don't like it myself, and behavior such as this is against the nature Christ would have me develop. It is so human and so typical to "join with a pack", just as animals do, and hang with those "who are at ease." But how much more there is to life when you inch out on the limb and comfort those who are in trouble and throw them a lifeline as well. Of course, you have to be willing to get rid of judgmentalism and fight your urge to judge another based on their circumstances. That is tough.

Job 17:6-7 --> "God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face. My eyes are dim with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self." (NLT)

I can totally relate to Job in this. How difficult it is for me to distinguish what is right in God's eyes vs. what is right in my own and everyone else's. I have no idea if I have got it right. (Frankly, most of the time, I suspect I don't have it right.) But there is a little war going on inside of me. Sometimes, I feel he has plopped me in the water right in the midst of a den of sharks who circle about me mercilessly. And I wonder why. To work on humility? To overcome the sharks? I like how Job cries out and explains his grief to God.

Now, I spent some time tonight considering Job's three "friends". Really, they were quite grieved when they saw what had transpired in Job's life -- so grieved that they sat in silence with him for 7 days as discussed before. So, I can only imagine that in their hearts, they were truly seeking to help Job. But if this wasn't such a serious bit of scripture, their responses to Job's impassioned and poetic pleas would be quite comical.

Job 11:3 --> (Zophar speaking) "Should I remain silent while you babble on? When you mock God shouldn't someone make you ashamed?" (NLT)

Job 15:2 --> (Eliphaz speaking) ".......You are nothing but a windbag." (NLT)

Job 18:2-3 --> (Bildad speaking) "How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer! Do you think we are cattle? Do you think we have no intelligence?" (NLT)

Oh my gosh! Can you imagine being Job? I can -- how many times my intentions are misunderstood. I never speak as clearly as my heart would speak. In fact, sometimes you would think I meant the exact opposite of my intentions. Communication is a tricky thing.

So, righteous Job has lost everything, all status, all money, all children, and then been told by his wife to "Curse God and die." His three friends mock him with words accusing him of "babbling" and of being a "windbag", and asking him to "stop talking" altogether. How much Job had to endure.