To be one of them...

This will be quite a different type of post than you are used to. Nonetheless, I hope we all learn something from it. I pray that it doesn't disappoint you but encourages you to look deeper inside of who you are and ask yourself if you were "To be one of them..." I must admit, at times I fall short and allow myself "to be one of them."

I am currently in the book of Job. This, FYI, is my absolute favorite book of the Bible but one of the most painful for me to read. Painful, eh? Yes. I embrace what it must have felt like to be a man of such gain and a man of such loss...yet a perfect man stablished and strengthened by his faith in Him. To be like Job would be to have experienced love and to have it completely stripped from you; to have a partner that outright does NOT support you in the least, to experience riches to rags; and to experience trust in relationships turn to betrayal and persecution by those you call your friends. Wow--if that's not enough to torment one, throw in some vanity issues of being covered in "boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown." So, yes, I say painful. Eh?

There is so much in this book to learn when talking about trust and faith, yet that is not the angle I am writing from today. Instead I want to talk to you about Job's friends and how we should all take heed that we would not be referred as "To be one of them." Let me explain. I was reading the Bible and began searching what type of friends Job had. I believe they had good intentions to support him and to console him. Scripture says, "they wept...rent their mantles...sprinkled dust upon their heads...sat w/him 7 days and 7 nights and none spake a word.... (Job 2:11-13) Great friends to come and mourn and comfort him!!!

Later on we read that his friends can no longer withhold themselves from speaking (4:2) and Eliphaz begins by asking Job, "Who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?" Eliphaz, continues on, "...they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same." What a friend. This is his way of using the biblical principle of sowing vs. reaping to explain to his friend why he is in this situation. Basically, Eliphaz is telling Job--you earned this torture, you must have done some act(s) or deed(s) to bring about these consequences. Wow, I say to you, wouldn't you like to have this friend--the one who tells you it's all your fault. Or how about worse yet, what if you were this type of friend you would fall into the category "To be one of them." Ouch!

Then comes his other buddy, Bildad, who thinks Job is a hypocrite. After Job just gets done answering the attack of Eliphaz, Bildad the buddy comes along and disregards anything that Job has just defended. Bildad says, "How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?" I imagine this as your friend sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for you to pause so that they can jump in and get their point across totally blocking out anything you have just said. My interpretation would be, "when will you stop blowing smoke? Just stop pretending and get to the bottom of this so we can get on w/our lives." Again I ask you, would you like to have this buddy? or could we count you "to be one of them?"

Job again, the upright man he is, defends his position and relationship w/God and mankind. He even gets to the point where, I believe he is getting fed up w/his friends. (Job 10:20) He says, "...cease then and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little."

Enters Zophar, the friend who not only thinks Job is a hypocrite (like Buddy Bildad) but he thinks he is also a Liar! He is all over Job's case asking him, "should thy lies make men hold their peace?" He continues trying to persuade Job "if iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away..."
I ask myself and you, do you feel this way toward your friends? Worse yet, do you allow your feelings to come to fruition and make your friend know you feel this way? To our shame we would be labeled "To be one of them."

These three amigos turn into three stooges the deeper we get into the book! They just continue to press Job and try him with other tactics, proverbs and accusations. All the while, Job continues to answer and express his undying affection and faith in God.

I say all this because we do always think that we as friends need to have something to say to the other as they are experiencing a trial. We need to take heed that all that God does and allows is for our ultimate good!

• "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Phil. 1:29)
• "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him..." (Job 13:15)
• "He knoweth the way that I take:when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10)
• "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1 Peter 4:19)
• "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9)
• 1 Peter 5:6-11

My prayer is that I would not be counted "To be one of them". It is not my desire to discourage any of my sisters or brothers in the Lord. I would pray that this would cause each of us to look more closely as to how we "judge" others and "help" them thru their trials. "To be one of them" (a friend like the one's Job had) is not my/our goal. Instead, we should continue to remind ourselves, "There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus...no not one...no not one!" and point our friends to the Cross!!!!