December 17 Daily Discovery
December 17 Daily Discovery
Read Job Chapter 6
To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
~ Job 6:14
An Appeal for Pity
Job's friends were doing their best, I think, but they failed to bring comfort to Job. Their erroneous accusations only added to his misery.
If we are afflicted, our friends should “pity” us. To pity is to feel sorrow and show compassion towards another.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. ~ Psalm 34:19
The Righteous Suffer Afflictions
MANY are the afflictions that the RIGHTEOUS experience.
It is sadly a part of the human condition to think that because someone is suffering they deserve it. Our default position is to believe that if things are going badly for someone, surely God is judging or correcting them for something that they have done.
Of course, we know that this is not true, because we have the book of Job.
Job was the best man on the earth when he was living.
God was allowing Job to be TESTED. Job was NOT being punished by God. He was being afflicted by the devil by divine permission.
Job Did Not Have the Book of Job
What did Job have? Job is actually the oldest book of the Bible. Job was contemporary with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, called the “patriarchs”.
Likely, all he knew of God was from oral tradition and his own experience.
During that period of time, if one lived a righteous life before God, he should have expected material blessings, and Job had received them.
He was wealthy and had a large, happy family. God had blessed Job because of his faithfulness to Him.
Life is a TEST
Take this phrase: "Life is a ..." and fill in the blank. You could say many things and they all could be partly true. Life is an adventure. Life is a bore. Life is a struggle. Life is a joy. Life is a question. Life is a journey ...
But I think life is mostly a TEST.
God wanted to TEST Job.
We read in the first chapter of Job that some of God's counsel (called Sons of God) came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan (the adversary) came among them.
The LORD spoke directly to Satan and asked him what he had been doing. Satan answered God that he had been going all across the earth, to and fro and up and down in it.
God knows all things, so He knew that Satan had been trying to attack Job. He asked Satan, "What do you think about my man, Job? He is perfect and upright and loves me and denies evil.
Satan said, "Yeah, but who wouldn't in Job's place. You bless everything he does. He is healthy and wealthy and happy. He doesn't serve you for nothing, you know. If you took away the blessings that you have given him, he will curse you to your face."
God gave Satan permission to destroy those things as a TEST for Job. Would he still love and serve and obey God even without those physical blessings?
We know that Job PASSED this TEST! (Job 1:20-21)
He continued to bless God anyway.
We Don't Know God's Purposes
We truly cannot know WHY someone may be suffering, but we do know what we should do: show pity upon them and do our best to console and comfort them.
Let's not make the same mistake that Job's friends made. They did not have the book of Job either. We do!
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