Job Chapter 11
Be Careful!!!!!!!
After Job gets done sharing his heart with the Lord, one of Job’s friends, Zophar, responds to Job.
He starts off with truth saying how God is all knowing and filled with wonders that are way beyond our limited understanding. We can’t even begin to understand God’s ways and wisdom. But from there, Zophar speaks as if he himself knows God’s thoughts. This is ironic in that he just gets done saying we can’t even begin to understand God’s wisdom but then turns around and speaks as if he knows God’s wisdom and gives horrible counsel lacking compassion and encouragement.
Zophar tells Job that if God was to speak he would tell Job that he is walking in sin and that he must devote his heart to the Lord and confess his sin and then he would be free from his pain and suffering.
I want us to be challenged on how we approach a friend who is struggling, maybe even struggling with sin. We need to be careful what we say and that it’s from the heart of God and not from a heart of arrogance. Once we think we are better than the person we are counseling, we lose compassion.
Galatians 6:1-3 is a good guideline to follow when giving counsel:
1. Pray for the Lord’s guidance and compassion.
2. Restore a person gently.
3. Be careful what you say because you too may fall in sin.
4. Don’t be arrogant as if you are better than they are because we are all capable of falling in sin. We all need compassion and encouragement.
A person should never be left feeling so knocked down that there’s no hope. Even if we confront someone there has to be an element of love and compassion that ultimately points them to the Lord for forgiveness and hope.
