In chapters 16 – 17, Job then goes into even more detail
about comforters his friends are compared to the previous chapters I read in
12-15. Job 17:3-4(NKJV) raises an even more interesting point in saying;
“You have closed their minds to understanding”
Here we have another form wisdom and understanding when it
comes to comforting a friend. I went through a period in life recently when I
was trying to comfort an unsaved friend. Her grandmother was diagnosed with
cervical cancer and she didn’t have long left to live. I spent time praying for
her and encouraging her and assuring her of God’s plan for her life and then
her grandmother died. She was confused and angry and for a split second I was
too. I was so sure that God would use her grandmother’s miraculous healing to
bring all of the family to him. The point I’m trying to make here is that if I
couldn’t understand why God did what He
did, then how was I could I comfort her by reassuring her that God was in
control, especially when she didn’t have a relationship with Him. Her mind was
closed to understanding and so my words felon deaf ears.
Trying to be comforted by or comfort someone who isn’t saved
is kind of like what Job is going through. If someone who is trying to comfort
you is not a Christian they may not understand that alcohol won’t solve the
problem like it used to, or they won’t get your need to cling closer to God in
this moment. The same way, an unbeliever won’t get you if you’re telling them
that God is in control and that their struggle is going to bring them closer to
him. Here we seem the importance of Godly council when we’re going through
hardship and also the importance of simply meeting people where they are.
My prayer in completing these chapters is kind of the same
as the previous ones. That I would be quick to listen and slow to speak and
that I would be an encourager. I would be someone that lived lift people up and
not condemn them but met them where they were and was just real about it.
tawo
x
tawo
x
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