A Listening Ear & A Heartfelt Prayer

Ok I said it. Job isn’t the easiest book to read. But…..there’s so much to learn if you slow down and really ponder on and unpack the conversation between Job and his “friends.”

Here are the three main takeaways that have really just been eye opening for me.

1) Satan is the great accuser and he wants us to question God. He’s not a myth or just a simple character from the Bible. He hates believers. When you are walking faithfully with the Lord, be prepared for attacks.  “I’ve been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” Believing in God doesn’t get you a ticket to easy street. The message of Job is not to give up on God because He has allowed you to have a bad experience. Satan wants us to doubt. Stand strong, armor up and fight.

2) And then comes Job’s friends. Big one here. They seemed to have good intentions but their advice was terrible. The foundation of all their advice was the assumption that Job’s sins had led to suffering. They were judging! They spoke half truths, didn’t fully understand God, and did not provide any comfort to their friend at all. Bottom line – providing counsel from God’s word is a big deal. We need to make sure what we say to someone is accurate and fully depicts the character of God that is revealed from Genesis to Revelation.

Sometimes the best way to support a friend who is suffering is to simply love on them.  We want to fix things and find the root of the issue. I chuckled when first writing this because at work we train people to ask why five times. But it’s not always our job to know the why. Shower your friend completely in love with no judgment and pray for them in a mighty way. Tell them you love them and that you are praying for them! God will reveal the why if it’s according to His plan.

3) 38:1 “Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind.” God is sovereign. Bad things happen because we live in a fallen world. But we are “temporary residents” here on this Earth. Turn to God for strength and His compassion and strength will find you.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”  Romans 8:38

Happy Saturday from Rooted!

Heather & Lisa