Job was a godly man who was suffering. He had lost everything and was struggling with a terrible disease. He sat down in a pile of ashes and stayed there. In the last chapter, his 3 friends sat with him and just listened to him complain. Now we come to the first of the replies of the 3 “friends,” who all came with the same solution to his problems: “Follow your own advice.”<\/p>\n
Eliphaz started off with a polite opening but soon came on strong, hitting Job with both barrels. He told Job that God was righteous and he was not, which of course is true. He was offering advice that was accurate but not helpful to Job. How we believers need to be careful about giving great biblical truths as advice, which doesn’t really help the hearer’s current situation. It seems Eliphaz couldn’t resist the temptation to raise himself up by proving that Job was more talk than substance. When we comfort others who are struggling spiritually, emotionally, or physically, we need to be careful we aren’t tempted by pride. None of us is free from sin and wrongdoing in our lives. The only person who has the right to condemn us is God. But does God condemn us? No. Job\u2019s devastation was not a result of his sins.<\/p>\n
Compassion means to feel what others are feeling and go and do something about it. An elementary schoolgirl’s best friend died in a car accident. A week later she visited her deceased friend\u2019s parents. When she got home, her dad asked, “Why did you go over so soon after Shirley\u2019s death?” “To comfort Shirley\u2019s mother,” said the child. “What did you do to comfort her?” asked her dad. “I climbed into her lap and cried with her,” the little girl replied.<\/p>\n
“LORD, we desire not to condemn but to comfort others this day, in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Job 4 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0If\u00a0<\/em>we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.\u00a05<\/sup>But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0Is\u00a0<\/em>not\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? 7<\/sup>\u00a0Remember, I pray thee, who\u00a0ever\u00a0<\/em>perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.\u00a0\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion\u2019s whelps are scattered abroad. 12<\/sup>\u00a0Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,\u00a014<\/sup>Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>before mine eyes,\u00a0there was<\/em>silence, and I heard a voice,\u00a0saying\u00a0<\/em>,\u00a0\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:\u00a0\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0How much less\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in the dust,\u00a0which\u00a0<\/em>are crushed before the moth?\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0Doth not their excellency\u00a0which is\u00a0<\/em>in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Job was a godly man who was suffering. He had lost everything and was struggling with a terrible disease. He sat down in a pile of ashes and stayed there. In the last chapter, his 3 friends sat with him and just listened to him complain. Now we come to the first of the replies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7490"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16434,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions\/16434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}