Job was tried in the most difficult circumstances imaginable. He lost his possessions, his children, and finally his health. The Bible says in Job 2: 10 that he still did not sin with his lips. Then his friends came along.
Job 4: 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the feeble knees;
5 But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
6 Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 “ Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?”
Eliphaz employed logic here, and it is pretty sound reasoning. It is also dead wrong. He stated truths about God and yet he applied them incorrectly; the suffering of Job was not related to sin, but to the glory of God, and promotion of his servant. Eliphaz knew something true and hurt his friend with that truth. The principle here is pretty simple; ladies and gentlemen I respectfully suggest that we shut up.
Ecclesiastes 5: 2 Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few”.
Our ability to know and assess life’s situations is limited by our finite minds. We are not everywhere; we don’t know all the thoughts or circumstances of anyone (including our own); we simply are not equipped to tell others definitively what “the problem” is.
Isaiah 55: 8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
My trying to fathom God’s ways before he explains them is like deciding what time the sun should rise. It is futile apart from God speaking to me. In order to listen I must shut up.
James 1: 19”Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
The thoughts for today are simply quiet down and hear from God. Have a blessed day.
Job 4: 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the feeble knees;
5 But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
6 Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 “ Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?”
Eliphaz employed logic here, and it is pretty sound reasoning. It is also dead wrong. He stated truths about God and yet he applied them incorrectly; the suffering of Job was not related to sin, but to the glory of God, and promotion of his servant. Eliphaz knew something true and hurt his friend with that truth. The principle here is pretty simple; ladies and gentlemen I respectfully suggest that we shut up.
Ecclesiastes 5: 2 Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few”.
Our ability to know and assess life’s situations is limited by our finite minds. We are not everywhere; we don’t know all the thoughts or circumstances of anyone (including our own); we simply are not equipped to tell others definitively what “the problem” is.
Isaiah 55: 8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
My trying to fathom God’s ways before he explains them is like deciding what time the sun should rise. It is futile apart from God speaking to me. In order to listen I must shut up.
James 1: 19”Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
The thoughts for today are simply quiet down and hear from God. Have a blessed day.
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