Reading through the Bible in 2020: Notes from the Bible Recap Day 7


Reading through the Bible in 2020
Bible Recap Day 7 Job 14-16

Personal notes from reading Job 14-16:
Job seems to have calmed a bit here as he concludes what he has to say, but nevertheless, his soul is weary.  His words are poetic and sometimes hard to know exactly what his heart was feeling. He reflects on life and death and sin.  Life is short and Job is well aware of it (in the blink of an eye, he witnessed almost everyone around him lose their life). He is at a point that he just wants to be hidden from pain and suffering, even if it’s in a grave.  Job’s friend, Eliphaz didn’t take lightly what Job had to say. He was quite offended by Job’s complaint. He felt like Job was disrespecting God and I sort of understand his position here (even though he was wrong).  We are privy to the whole story so we have a much better understanding of where Job is coming from. I think it’s a good reminder that it’s really best to withhold judgment because seldom do have access to the entirety of God’s plan or reasoning.  It would have done Eliphaz some good to calm it with his judgments and boy, it would do us some good too!

After all the physical and emotional torture, and listening to his friends push him with accusations and assumptions in such a condemning manner, he is fed up!  Instead of comforting their friend in such a dark time, they came and beat him down more. Uh oh! How often are we guilty of beating a man while he’s down. I am sorry to say, but I know there have been times that I’ve done it too.  Tending to someone in need is the perfect time to show God’s great love. Be tender and thoughtful. Listen. Pray. Watch what you say when you reach out to someone who is hurting. Your words should not be salt on their wounds.  Every interaction with every single person should leave the other feeling overwhelmingly confident in your love for them and God's love for them.

Notes from the Bible Recap Job 14-16:
God calls us to mourn with those who mourn.  None of Job’s friends had ever experienced what Job had, yet they came to him with all this condemning advice as if they knew better than Job did about his situation.   Suffering is never quick in the moment. It lasts longer than we want it to. When we are comforting someone in suffering we need to suffer with them. Take on their pain as your own out of love.  When they hurt, you hurt. When we’re sitting right along with the suffering, in a place of suffering, I think it’s easier to be a good friend. It moves us to genuine compassion and empathy.  

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