Guest Post by Phil Erickson Jr.
Today’s Passage – Job 16-18
The story of Job in the Bible has always fascinated me. I have always loved hearing messages preached about his life. For those of you who attend our church, the “Hast thou retained thine integrity?” message is one of the all-time greats. To think that a man could go from being “the greatest of all the men of the east” as the Bible calls him, to having nothing in just a matter of hours, and still praise God through all of it just boggles my mind. I have often wondered what it was that made Job such a “perfect and upright” man. Was it the fact that he gave his tithes and offerings faithfully? Maybe. Was it the fact that he cared so much about his family and their spiritual condition? Could be. Or maybe did God just like him better than anyone else at the time? God is not a respecter of persons, but who knows? Maybe He did favor him. He obviously blessed him with a lot. But as I read these few chapters a thought jumped out at me. Job is right smack in the middle of the absolute worst time in his life, and here come his “friends.” They go on and on about why they think this is all happening to Job. And right in the middle of it, I noticed verses 19-20 of chapter 16. And, I may be wrong, but I think these couple verses may be the secret to Job’s “success” as a man of God. The verses say – “And now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.” Job cared about what God thought, and ONLY about what God thought. He said ‘my witness is in heaven’ , and ‘ my record is on high.’ He knew that God knew everything that was going on. He knew that God knew his heart and his intentions with everything he did in his life. He knew that God knew that his tithes and offerings, his service to God, and his love for his family was out of his love and devotion to God. It had nothing to do with ANYONE else. So, when the chips were down, and everything went down the drain, he didn’t go running to his friends or anyone else. He went to God. He brought his tears to God. He knew that when things were good, it was God. When things were bad, it was God. And he praised God through it all.
As Christians we need to see that everything that happens to us, good or bad, comes from the Lord. He loves us more than we can ever know. He has a plan for our lives, and we need to trust Him and Him alone. When the chips are down, our friends won’t be there. Sometimes even our family won’t be there. But God is always there. He never turns His back on us…who are we to turn our backs on Him?
Posted in Guest Posts by Phil Erickson with 6 comments.
Great post – I also like the phrase, “my witness is in Heaven”. Since that is true, why is it that we always try to prove ourselves to men. We always try to win every argument. We always try to defend ourselves. Even Job, here spent a lot of time trying to refute the accusations of his “friends”. We could avoid a lot of arguments and wasted energy by just realizing that God knows the truth and, ultimately, He is the only one that matters.
Amen! Phil, Amen! Pastor. Glory be to God! He is so Great!
Job 16:21 “O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor!” Job’s friends should have been praying for him rather than being critical. We must remember to be in prayer for those that are hurting, and plead for God’s mercy and grace to sustain them while thay are going through trials. Always be sensitive to others, as they will not always speak of their hurts and needs. The biggest blessing you can have is to be a quiet blessing to others.
That’s such a needed reminder. It’s so easy to worry about what others, especially friends, think rather than God. I wonder how many more lives would have recieved the Gospel if I only cared about what God thinks; who could be reached today if, like Job, my witness is heaven?
To the world, Job should have had much pride in all his wealth, but instead Job knew Who his riches belonged to (where your treasure is there will your heart be also). He humbly said, The Lord giveth and he taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Thats great Eileen you truly know how to love people the way our Lord loves people. I covet the prayers of Gods people and believe in the power of prayer.
Awesome job!