Good Friends or Bad Advice

Have you ever had a time in your life when you faced a Monday everyday of the week?  Maybe there were problems at home with plumbing or electrical.  Maybe you just couldn’t seem to get rid of a nagging cold.  Maybe you were working as hard as you could at your job but kept seeming to fall farther behind.  That seems to be the case with a man in the scripture named Job.  He has been having a Monday every day of the week.  Everything starts out exceptional but then within a matter of days he loses he business, his possessions, his family (save his wife), and eventually his own health.  This is has been the focus of our reading plan the last several days.  If you have been reading the Bible through chronologically with me this year you probably have been experiencing some tough reading as we have gone through the book of Job.  Often we are content to read the beginning and the end but are a bit leery of the center section due to the poetic renderings of Job and his four friends.  However, when we take time to explore this book and seek to understand the meaning of what God intends for us to glean from such a deep passage we can learn lessons valuable for all believers. 

What lessons are there in these pages for us to learn in order to live more godly and God-honoring lives?  Warren Wiersbe says, “The main lesson in Job is this: God is completely sovereign in His dealings with His people and will never permit anything to come to the life of an obedient Christian that is not for his good and God's glory.”  Too often we look at Job’s theme as “Why do bad things happen to good people” when in reality the great theme according to some theologians should be how should godly people respond in the midst of trials and tragedies. 

At the beginning of the book we are introduced to three of his Job’s friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu.  Each of these men was there to bring words of instruction to Job for his calamities.  While they each had a different approach to their rebukes of Job, they all felt as though their friend was a fraud or hypocrite with some secret sin causing God to bring judgment upon him.  Their theology was simple, God brings wrath on the sinful and blessings on the righteous.  In the face of his friends all out assault on his integrity and righteousness Job maintained his innocence and finds justification in the end. 

There are several great lessons to draw from this great manuscript of the Bible.  First, Andy Andrews said it best in The Travelers Gift “public opinion may sway back and forth but right and wrong never do.”  Job’s friends had faulty theology; therefore, giving ungodly counsel.  Make sure your advice lines up with scripture.  Secondly, Andrews also stated in The Travelers Gift “unjust criticism has no impact whatsoever on the truth.”  These men were quick to point out the “presumed” faults of Job when the truth was nowhere near their accusations.  Stand firm on the truth; for as Jesus said in John 8:32 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (HCSB)  Walk so intimately with the Truth (Jesus Christ) that the accusations of pseudo-friends will not deter your intimacy with God.  Then finally, wait patiently for the Lord to deliver you in His time and bring glory to His name.  King David penned it so eloquently in Ps 40:1-3 “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” (HCSB)  Wait on the Lord to renew your standing and strength. 

Blessed Beyond Measure,

 
Pastor Ric