I am still have computer issues because of a broken laptop keyboard but am keeping up with the reading and following (and enjoying) your commentaries.
I decided to try a SOAP commentary today:
Scripture - Job 16:4-5
4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
Application - It is easy to think we know what others are going through and it is easy to judge others by their actions. Job implies that his friends' "fine speeches" and their "head shaking" are not the actions he would take if the situation was reversed and his friends were the ones suffering. I believe that Job would like to believe that "his mouth would encourage" but I think that until he was in that situation, he is not able to know what exactly he would do. Maybe Job is a better man than his friends and he would not have been trying to figure out what had caused such terrible suffering, but I believe it is human nature to try and find a cause and possibly even assign blame.
One thing I took from this passage was to be more of an encouragement to people facing trouble and to be less judgmental. It sounds like Job is looking for a listening ear or a kind word and all of the lectures and finger pointing just adds to the guilt he is already feeling wondering what he could have done to cause such pain. I am not saying that an obvious sin in a friend should be ignored, but maybe instead of trying to put ourselves into a friend's place ("Oh, if I were you, I would do this....") maybe we just need to listen and encourage. It is so easy to judge others and even if we are not saying it out loud, our hearts can be guilty of this.
Prayer - Dear Lord, we thank You that You are an all knowing God. You know our past, You know our present, and You know our future. You know our thoughts-spoken and unspoken-and unfortunately not all of our thoughts are encouraging or helpful to others. Thank you for Your word and the instructions in it. I thank You for the plans You have for each one of us and that You reveal Your plan in Your awesome timing. Help us to be an encouragement to those around us in our words and actions. Let us focus less on ourselves and what we would do and more of the needs of others. Lord, give us all the desire to be like Job, one who was hand-picked by God, who served as an example of triumph over adversity and an example of the perfectness of Your plan. Amen.
Tomorrow's readings are Job 19:1-21:34. Click here to read online.
2 comments:
Thanks for the post Pam. You are quite right. More often than not, people in those situations don't need advice. They need someone to hurt alongside them, to empathize, to encourage, to sit and listen and cry with them.
I agree. Also, sometimes we don't try to comfort someone because we don't know what to say...we don't need to say anything, we can just tell them we love them, and are praying for them and just our presence can show we care without having to open our mouths.
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