February 26th, 2021-Job’s friends and faith’s promise–
His friends show ussome lessons. They kept talking with the ultimate explanation of Job’s suffering was that he was sinning and had done something wrong to get the pain-which was wrong. They came to him. They stood with him. It was in silence for 7 days. They listened and they grieved with him. They represent different things: Eliphaz represents the biblical or rabbinic tradition believing that Job is being punished for his sins, Bildad expresses the view of the Mutazillites believing that Job is being tested to receive a greater reward, Zophar presents the view of the Asharites believing Job suffers because of God’s arbitrary will. However, despite all of that they spoke of God but didn’t pray with him in the book. We will meet people and we will feel the call to try to do something or say something but we must remember to seek God first, to pray and share the Word before we try to do anything. There is another speaker who is not identified as a friend of Job, his name is Elihu and he gives a good speech crediting God’s brilliance and position above us. Job’s faith though. He had no idea about what was going on in heaven but whe tragedy struck, he never cursed God. He may have overestimated his own self-righteousness and believed that he didn’t deserve the trouble but nowhere does it say be righteous and never have trouble in the Bible. In fact, in Matthew 16, Jesus himself said that we must deny ourselves and take up our own crosses in order to follow him.
- Choosing faith will not stop the pain
- Choosing faith will not stop the questions
- Faith does not provide a logical reason in the end to explain the suffering
Such faith though builds us and shows us what God can do, if we choose to exercise the faith to recognize it. Too often people have the lessons presented to them and are too blind or stubborn or distracted or self-centered to recognize it. Pray for vision, for willingness, for selflessness and to be obedient. Salvation comes when we believe but it is not our act that saved us, Jesus did all the work, we can’t earn salvation. Ever.
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