August 22nd

August 22nd

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job: "Will you be patient and let me say a word? For who could keep from speaking out? "In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak. Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees. But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you. Doesn't your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn't your life of integrity give you hope? "Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed? My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same. A breath from God destroys them. They vanish in a blast of his anger. (‭Job‬ ‭4‬:‭1-9‬ NLT)

Let's think about Job for a minute here: he just lost his livestock, his ability to make money, his servants, all of his children, and if that wasn't enough, he got a serious skin disease. So, needless to say, Job was a bit down. He was in pain and had a broken heart. I would go as far as to say he was depressed. He just wants God to kill him, to let him die. So onto the scene comes his friend Eliphaz. Now Eliphaz has a great opportunity here, an opportunity to uplift, and opportunity to be a helpful hand to his friend who has always been encouraging to others. But here, when Job needs someone to be his strength for him, his friend Eliphaz doesn't do the same for him. He just tries to give him advice. Tries to point out what "experience" has taught him. What Job needed was a friend to stand with him, not try to point out his wrongs. Job is in pain, and has pain in his heart, he needed his friend to listen to him, grieve with him, be a friend to him. But that is not what he got, is it?
There is a lesson for us all in this passage today. We all are friends with someone who is going through a struggle. People we know have lost a loved one, are deep in depression, have a broken heart. The list could go on and on.... Here is where so many of us fail. Our struggling friends don't need our advice. They need their friend. They need our time. They need a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes the way we can be most Christlike is to just spend time listening to people, and crying with them, and sharing in their struggles. Don't be an Eliphaz. We all have done this, I know I have. Advice, even wise advise in a time of struggle is not what they need. They need a friend. Don't be an Eliphaz!

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