“Blessed in the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline on the Almighty”
We all have had that friend in school who had answer for everything. A more common term would be the know it all. You just had a terrible day the “know it all” comes up and gives you a reason you are suffering and better yet even gives you what he would do if he were in your spot. All this advise is free and not asked for. Or maybe when the husband comes up and instead of listening to his wife’s day, he butts in and goes straight to know it all land where he has “the answer” for everything. I am guilty as charged on this one. Praise the Lord James 1:19-20 tells us a better way; swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
Job has three friends that come to see him after he has lost everything. They sit with Job for a week and say nothing.
After a week, Eliphaz starts the pep talk aimed at Job. He tells Job in Job 4:2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?” Verse 17 above is a summary of Eliphaz and his two chapter rant. Eliphaz says that Job must have sinned in order for this turn of events to happen to him. In Eliphaz’s eyes that is the only way he can see why all this is happening. He even tells Job to appeal to God like God has punished him much to severely for the crimes committed. Job also has a two chapter rebuttal to Eliphaz and his charge. Job says in verse 20 of chapter 7, ‘If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do?”
We will see three friends of Job and how they interpret Job’s downfall. Eliphaz is the one who says that you must have sinned.
John 1:14 says that Jesus comes with grace and truth not accusation and judgement. Life gets tough for all of us. Jesus even says that it rains on the just and the unjust so we would be wrong to assume that everything wrong in our lives is a punishment from the Lord.
This is what Eliphaz was telling Job, “you must have sinned.” God does not go around looking for a chance to smite us with hardship the moment we screw up. If I believed in a God who did that, my belief would be based on works and not faith. Paul says in Ephesians 2: 8-10 “[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Be weary of the friends who judge your life through the eyes of sin and not the law of grace. Such friends should be kept far away from us. Don’t be an Eliphaz to your friends. We can look at our lives and ask God to help us correct our poor choices. We can pray and get free of all those entanglements in Jesus name.
James 1:2-4 tells us, “2 Consider it nothing but joy, my [a]brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. 3 Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.” God is a loving God and He does not sit around waiting to smite us, if this is your interpretation of God you are wrong!
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ then you have a target on your back. Satan comes only steel, kill, and destroy. Satan wants you to become impatient, inactive, and uneventfully for Christ. The next time life gets tough, maybe like Job’s, fall to your knees and pray that the Lord will help you in the middle of the storm. Be founded and secured by building your faith on the rock of Jesus and after the storms pass, you will still be standing.
Prayer: Father, today open our eyes to see the grace and truth of you in our lives. Help us navigate through our circumstances so we can see your glory and love. Open our eyes and heart to recognize when we need to lead with grace and truth in our own lives. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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