Recently, I was reading through Job. According to the Bible, he was a “man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.” He was also very wealthy and blessed by God.
UNTIL ONE TRAGIC DAY…
Within the span of one day, Job lost his animals, which included donkeys, camels and sheep. He also lost all of his farmhands, shepherds and servants. Then his children were killed by a tornado.
The Bible goes on to say “that in all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.”
As if losing everything was not enough, then he became sick with a horrible skin disease.
Job had three besties
These three men were Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. They sat with him for a full week in silence. Then Job started talking. He was a bit on the dark side, cursing the day of his birth.
Eliphaz tried his hardest to encourage him. However, his speech is a bit condemning in tone. Then Bildad started talking and again it was assumed that the suffering of Job was due to an unconfessed sin. However, Zophar took it to a whole new level. He implied that Job’s calamities proved that he was wicked. Then the young Elihu start throwing ruthless (worthless) words at Job.
With friends like that, who needs enemies?
Finally Job gets his chance to address God with his perspective. God puts him in his place. After the confrontation with God, Job humbles himself in repentance.
What is most interesting is what happens next. His friends were told to bring a sacrifice to Job that he was to offer to God for their sins. He was then to pray over his friends for God to forgive them. His fortunes were then restored.
I find it immensely interesting that Job had to intercede for his hostile friends and reconcile them with God before his fortunes could be restored.
Might that be because God was worried that he would not forgive his friends and live with bitterness? So God, in his wisdom, asked Job to not only forgive his friends but perform an act which could pave the way for God to forgive them also.
Are we any better than Job? Is it not important for us to pray for those who have persecuted us, betrayed us and stolen from us?
In my novel, The Shattered Vase, when Suzie remembers how her mother abused her as a little girl, she is told that she needs to help her mother heal. That is a hard thing to do. Read The Shattered Vase to find out if she is successful or does her mother remain bitter?
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Image compliments of Heri Santosa via pixabay
