Job 10:20–22: “Are not my days few? / Cease! Leave me [Job] alone, that I may take a little comfort, / Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, / To the land of darkness and the shadow of death, / A land as dark as darkness itself, / As the shadow of death, without any order, / Where even the light is like darkness.”

December 5th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Job was struggling and saying something like, “Let my last few days be in peace so that I can die quietly.” Although Job speaks of “the shadow of death” being darkness, the Book of Job does not teach “soul” sleep. We read in Job 19:25–26: “For I know that my redeemer lives . . . And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.” Because of his afflictions, he wished he had never been born and would gladly have taken complete oblivion to what he was currently living through. But death wouldn’t do him one bit of good, nor will it help us either when we are struggling and in pain. Have patience, friend, all will be settled perfectly in the end.

What in the world was wrong with these friends of Job? Have you noticed that they never even prayed with him? Not one of them ever stopped to ask God for help for themselves to understand Job’s problem or for Job himself. It is true that the Book of Job is filled with prayers, but they are all the prayers of Job, never his friends. Godly friends pray for you and ask God to give them wisdom to help you. We need to do the same for those we seek to help. It is not a difficult concept to grasp, so why do so few “counselors” actually pray for those who come to them for help? If you are seeking counsel from someone, or someone has come to you for counsel, the very first thing to do is to seek the Lord through simple, heartfelt prayer.

“LORD, give us wisdom and discernment as we seek to help others this day.”