Beliefs Over Truth

 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”Job 42:7

Good friends who collectively thought they understood God's ways never realized they were actually expressing their beliefs over truth. I wish this were a unique problem confined to this period in history. Yet, mankind seems to always be trying to put God into the box of our understanding, while looking for confirmation from the majority of those around us.

We need to understand that the majority opinion is just that, a majority opinion. It may have something to do with the truth or be a lie because truth comes from God, not man's consensus.
The only way to know the truth is to know God. The only way to know God is to spend time with Him. We must dedicate ourselves to listening to God more than social media, television, or even to those in our church.

We need to know Christ to live in a way that makes Him known.

Personal Responsibility

 Then Job answered the Lord and said: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:1-6

Here is the key to Job's life--personal responsibility.

He had the chance to blame his buddies for his bad thoughts. He had a chance to wiggle out of the responsibility of believing what he believed. But he did not. He knew he was personally responsible for what he believed, as we are.

If you believe something about God because Grandma thought it, and it's wrong, you are wrong. If you believe something because your pastor believed it, and he is wrong, you are wrong. For whatever reason, when you are wrong, you are wrong, and you need to own it to begin discovering and living in the truth.

As children of the King, we are not victims and should not live a life of excuses. Instead, we are conquerors and should live as those who know and have the truth and are guarded by the One who is truth.

God Is At Work

 “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?” Job 40:7-9

How often does God look like the "bad" one in our portrayal of our life and our circumstances? How often am I willing to throw God under the bus to obtain man's sympathy or understanding?
It is never right to portray God as One who randomly chooses people to beat on for "some reason." There are times of great stress in people's lives that God or our foolishness can cause. Yet, to accuse God of being random is always wrong.

The adverse circumstances in your life (or those that you consider adverse) are either because of silly choices or because God is making your life significant. You need to make better choices if they are due to your choices. If they are due to God's plan, you must rest in who He is.
It is the wise person who knows the difference.

It’s Not About Me

 Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.

Job 32: 2
We can get into trouble whenever we make it about us rather than God. Job focused on what he had done, what he had said, and how he had lived, but he was coerced into this thinking by his stupid friends.

Finally, there is a young one, a clear thinker, one whom they would not expect real answers or real hope to come from, who speaks words of wisdom.

In essence, Job, it's not about you; you have made this about you. It is about God.

When we make our churches about people, our families about us, our work about us, and our decisions based on "us" and our best, we miss out on what is really happening in the universe.
So, what is this day about for you? Why?
 

Understand?

 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”

Job 19: 25-27
When you cannot make sense of the circumstances, you need to begin reviewing what you know, not what you feel. Job knew God. He knew His character and His love and understood his own frailties.

When we insist that we understand, we elevate ourselves to the same status God alone holds. There will be times when all we have is the understanding that God is older than us, smarter than us, and loves us. We must then trust Him.
Faith is not the controlling of circumstances. It is the expression of what we know, even amid the unknown.

We are never told that without pragmatism, we cannot please God. Therefore, in uncertain times and at all times, faith trumps pragmatism. It is what it is.

Stupid?

 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: "How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak. Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight?"

Job 18:1-3

They are counted stupid in Job's sight because they are stupid. Stupid means not intelligent; having or showing a lack of ability to learn and understand things.
My mother taught me not to use that word, but what if it applies? What if that is the only word that fits the occasion?

What makes this even more tragic is that these people had the same opportunity as Job to get things right, but they got it wrong for some reason. These three friends of Job's were great friends who were stupid.

If you use the word correctly, it's good, because it helps you grasp what is going on. Anyone who adds or subtracts from God's truth is stupid, even me when I do such things.

Understanding?

 Then Job answered and said: "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all. Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain." Job 16: 1-5

If you do not know what is happening, it's best to be silent. Silence is often one of the best ways to share someone's grief.

Talk is always easy and cheap and is often not backed up by the truth. When we speak out of ignorance, we hurt someone in our efforts to help them.

Satan works that way. Lies are his native language, and he will not hesitate to present himself as an angel of light who understands or cares and can offer real reasons for your suffering.
Satan will make it look like suffering is something you deserve because of your "sinful" lifestyle. Yet, the whole book of Job screams the opposite. One can do all things right and be in great trouble because they do things right.

There is a difference between human and divine understanding. One is anemic at best.