“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.” (Job 13:15)
“My daughter, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you...” is playing in the background.
Job had a wonderful ability to continue to look to and trust God in his pain and suffering. He deeply loved God and desired with His whole heart not to sin against Him. In all that was taken away from Job, he did not become offended. He did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1:22).
Job lost everything he owned, his servants and his children. When he found out about it, he tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground and worshiped. He proclaimed, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has take away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
Then when Satan attacked his health, Job's wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse god and die!” But Job refused to become offended, he responded, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9-10)
Once the pain had time to settle in and Job's three friends came to comfort him, sitting with him in silence for seven days, he finally opened up his heart to them and began expressing his pain. He cursed the day he was born and expressed his great misery.
Just being present with someone in their pain speaks comfort and care for that person that words often cannot. John Maxwell writes, “Leaders seldom realize how much their listening empowers the other person. Because they are leaders, the sheer act of listening speaks volumes that even a great can't communicate.” He notes that listening communicates the value of the other person and his or her thoughts. It also communicates love and understanding and care for their needs. [1]
When his friends finally spoke, instead of finding comfort and understanding for his pain, what Job found was presumption and judgment. His friends thought that his pain and suffering must have to do with sin that God was punishing Job for and therefore was well deserved.
When Job would not repent, Eliphaz says to him, “Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquity without end? For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have not given the weary water to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. But the mighty man possessed the land, and the honorable man dwelt in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed. Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden fear troubles you, or darkness so that you cannot see; And an abundance of water covers you.” (Job 22:5-11)
Rather than being there for him and helping him through a difficult time, his friends just added more misery to his pain. Job became stuck in trying to prove his righteousness. He felt he needed to justify himself as righteous to his friends. And in justifying himself as righteous, he was accusing God of being an unjust judge.
Job answered his friends, “Even today my complaint is bitter; my hand is listless because of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat! I would present my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments.....And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.” (Job 23:2-7)
“I was fully deserving of death, but you saw me there, because of your great love God, you saw me there because You're rich in mercy. … And it's by Your grace that I was saved, it's the very gift of God” sings.
Job was certain that his own righteousness would save him. He said, “When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
Job believed the very same thing as his friends – that suffering was the result of sin. If someone was suffering, ultimately it was because of their own sin. And, if they turned from their sin, God would forgive them and relent.
Having now experienced suffering in his own life, he was lost for how to respond, other than call God unjust for his judgments against him and stand on his own righteousness.
Job told his friends about the way he lived his life, “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know. I broke the fangs of the wicked, and plucked the victim from his teeth. Then I said, 'I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand.'” (Job 29:14-18)
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me” sings in the background.
Ultimately, it was Job's friend Elihu who helped Job see that he could not justify himself with God by his own righteousness. Elihu helped Job to get to a place where he could hear from God for himself. When Job could finally get to this place, he could see his sin and fully repented.
Elihu had influence with him that Job's other friends did not have. What Elihu did that was different from his friends was:
Elihu listened first.
Elihu stood back and let Job and his other three friends converse before he spoke up. At the same time, he truly listened to what was being said. He wasn't thinking about what he would say when he got his turn. He said, “Indeed I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say. I paid close attention to you” (Job 32:11-12).
Elihu spoke his own heart.
Elihu did not just go along and agree with the other three of Job's friends. He also did not speak what Job or anyone else wanted to hear. He spoke exactly what was on his heart. He told them, “Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone; nor let me flatter any man. For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.” (Job 32:21-22)
Elihu approached Job from a place of humility, compassion, and servanthood.
Elihu told Job, “Truly I am as your spokesman [literally, your mouth] before God; I also have been formed out of clay. Surely no fear of me will terrify you, nor will my hand be heavy on you.” (Job 33:6-7)
Elihu demonstrated that he understood Job's core complaint and reflected his thoughts back to him.
Steven Covey often says, “Seek first to understand, then be understood.” Elihu used his understanding to reflect back to Job what he was saying so Job knew he was understood and could hear his own thoughts. This did not mean that Elihu was agreeing with Job's thinking, but that he understood and had listened to him. Job had been truly heard by Elihu. Elihu told Job, “And I have heard the sound of your words, saying, 'I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me. Yet He finds occasions against me, He counts me as His enemy; He puts my feet in the stocks, He watches all my paths.” (Job 33:9-11)
Elihu established a heart connection with Job.
Too often people are full of opinions and judgments while they fail to make a heart connection with others. It is the heart connection that puts one in position to truly influence change. John Maxwell writes, “We voice our opinions even though we remain ignorant of important information and lack any heart connection to our audience. Job called his friends, 'miserable comforters.'”
John Maxwell goes on to note the key differences between those who are public speakers and those who communicate in a way that connects and has influence. He notes about the differences:
“Public Speakers:
- Seek to be understood and liked
- Asks: What do I have?
- Focuses on techniques
- Is self-conscious
- Wants to complete the speech
- [Is] Content-oriented
Communicators:
- Seek to understand and connect
- Asks: What do they need?
- Focuses on atmosphere
- Is audience-oriented
- Wants to complete the people
- [Is] Change oriented.” [2]
Elihu confronted the sin directly without judging Job.
There is a leadership quote that says, 'Focus on the problem, not the person [as the source of the problem].' Elihu confronted the action that was sin without insulting Job as a person, making him feel small. Elihu gave Job dignity and respect.
This was something his other three friends failed to do. Job had told his other friends when they confronted him, “No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you! But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?” (Job 12:2-3).
Elihu also waited for the right timing to confront Job. He first demonstrated that he understood Job's complaint, reflected it back to him in humility, and made a heart connection. It was only then that Elihu confronted Job about his complaint, telling him, “Look, in this you are not righteous.” (Job 33:12)
Elihu sought the best interest of Job.
There is a leadership quote that says, “Don't ask for their hand until you have their heart.” If you want to have genuine influence, trust and relationship will come before requesting action. Job was at a place where he could hear from Elihu and allow him to speak in his life because Elihu had done the work needed to make a heart connection with him first. Elihu had influence with Job because Job knew that Elihu had his best interest at heart. Elihu tells job, “If you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.'”
Elihu points Job back to God and not to himself.
By speaking the truth about God's goodness, Elihu directs Job back to look to God for answers. He tells Job, “One who is perfect in knowledge is with you. Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding” (Job 36:4-5).
Elihu then proclaims the majesty of God, reminding Job that he is not contending with a man who is his equal. He tells Job, “Remember to magnify His work, of which men have sung. Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar. 'Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.” (Job 36:24-26)
Elihu asks Job questions that cause Job to reflect on his accusations against God.
Elihu asks Job, “Do you know how the clouds are balanced, those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge? Why are your garments hot, when He quiets the earth by the south wind? With Him, have you spread out the skies, strong as a cast metal mirror?”
Elihu strikes at the heart of Job's sin as he poses questions back to Job. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” And David proclaims in Psalm 141:5, “Let a righteous man strike me--it is a kindness; let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers.”
Elihu created space for God to speak.
Elihu made room for God to speak directly to Job. The end result is that Job heard God speaking to him again. God ask job, “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.” (Job 40:2). Before this Job had mentioned he could no longer hear from God. He had told his friends, “Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.” (Job 23:8-9)
Elihu made room where Job could feel safe being open and vulnerable about his sin.
Once Job could hear from God himself, he could truly see where he was wrong and repent. Because of Elihu's humble approach and nonjudgmental attitude, he created space where Job could feel safe being open and vulnerable about his sin. Job told God, “Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.” (Job 40:4-5)
Elihu helped Job get what he needed most, to encounter God.
It was in this place of repenting and being fully open and vulnerable that Job actually encountered God. Job spoke, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Job realized that he could not stand on his own righteousness and he came to put his feet on the only Rock that could support him. Job, like all of us, needed a Savior.
“I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see!”
Finally, Encountering God led Job to forgiveness of his friends.
God will always lead us towards forgiveness and peace with others. Job had experienced tremendous persecution by his three friends. They not only failed to understand him in his suffering, but they jumped to conclusions about him and spread all kinds of accusations. When Job most needed friends, they were his worst enemies. Yet, we are never justified in holding a grudge or unforgiveness towards anyone. The Lord called Job's friends to repent and Job to pray for them. Jesus says in Matthew 5:44, to bless those who curse you and pray for those who persecute you.”
[a]
So what can I learn from this?
Anything short of treating others with unconditional love is sin. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” When someone has treated me poorly, I often struggle with loving them well. I judge them for their actions and accuse them in my heart but fail to judge myself for my reaction.
This does not mean that we automatically absolve everyone who causes us pain and act like a doormat for them to walk all over. But rather than judge them for their actions and react towards them, we deal with them directly in private with a heart to understand first and make peace with them.
“May You find this heart loyal to You...May you be all that's on my mind all the time. Let my heart be torn in two until Your will is mine.” sings
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
John Whit, quoted by John Maxwell noted, “We gossip because we fail to love. When we love people, we don't criticize them. If we love them, their failures hurt. We don't advertise the sins of people we love any more than we advertise our own.” [3]
Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”
Sometimes it is easy for me to complain against someone who hurt me rather than showing them grace and thinking the best of them. I believe that their actions reflect their heart towards me when they hurt me. I fail to forgive them and hold a grudge. When I do this, I sometimes even fail to notice and appreciate if they do something kind.
I am also quick to judge and write off someone who has demonstrated a pattern of hurting me in a certain way. Rather than seeking to understand, I assume I know what they are thinking and judge them for it.
I believe it was Steven Covey who once said that how we treat the most difficult person in our lives is significant because everyone is this 'one' at heart. I believe he noted, 'You cannot do wrong in one area of your life while attempting to do right in the other areas. Life is an interconnected whole.'
“I want to be found faithful, I want to be found steady, I want to be found faithful until the end. I don't wanna be ashamed when I see your face, make my footsteps firm, hold me in your grace” sings.
We are to love because Christ first loved us. We forgive because we have been forgiven much. It is love that caused Job to worship God when all was taken away from Him. It was love that caused Job to proclaim “though He slay me, yet I will trust him” when he was suffering tremendous losses.
“At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah. You're the one who saved me. The one who gave me this life I live... Let the whole world know I love you lord” sings.
Thomas a Kempis writes, “Love is an excellent thing, a very great blessing, indeed. It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity. For it bears a burden without being weighted and renders sweet all that is bitter.” [4]
He goes on to write that nothing is greater than love. He notes, “Love often knows no limits but overflows all bounds. Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things. For this reason, it is able to do all, preforming and effecting much where he who does not love fails and falls.” [5]
Love forgets about itself. One who receives much love, is free to give out of the abundance and fullness of having everything one needs. And love takes no note of suffering. As Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 13, love bears all things.
Thomas a Kempis writes, “He who is not ready to suffer all things and to stand resigned to the will of the Beloved is not worthy to be called a lover. A lover must embrace willingly all that is difficult and bitter for the sake of the Beloved, and he should not turn away from Him because of adversities.” [6]
Love is most fully expressed in suffering. Jesus expressed His love for us by suffering on the cross for our sins. 1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
In 1 Peter 2:19-24 it says, “For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His steps. 'Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth'; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -by whose stripes you were healed.”
What sometimes happens for me is that I willingly suffer but I do so grudgingly at times. Rather than appreciating the opportunity to express my love for Jesus through following in His footsteps, I shrink back or complain in my heart about suffering for Him.
We are to gladly embrace suffering with humility. Like Job and Paul, we are to worship and praise God in the midst of it. Peter says, that we are to rejoice to the extent that we are invited to partake in Christ's sufferings (1 Peter 4:13).
“Will you lay down your life?... Will you be a friend of the Bridegroom?... I am coming” is playing in the background.
Lord, I have sinned. I have complained and not suffered well. I have been ungrateful when you have given me so much. You answered my prayers to show my love for You more by giving me more opportunities to do so. And I have complained about them rather than embrace them with joy.
I have also failed to love others well. I have judged people in my heart at times and thought the worst of them. I have saw only their shortcomings and failed to believe the best about them. I have not truly forgiven them but held a grudge. Forgive me.
“Don't let me stumble while your heart is breaking, wake me up to feel what you feel” sings.
Lord, if we cannot love our brothers well, how can we possibly love the least and the lost well. Forgive us wherever we fall short. Help us to be more like Elihu, who so freely gave your love away and extended a hand to help his brother up in his sin rather than standing back and judging him.
Lord, I pray we would walk worthy of the calling with which we were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3)
a. Some of the material on Job and Elihu was based out of a sermon I heard a year or so ago called “The Comforter” by Pastor David Johnson, Church of the Open Door.
1-2. Maxwell, John. The Maxwell Leadership Bible, Second Edition. NKJV. Lessons in Leadership from the Word of God. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, Tennessee. 2007.
3. Maxwell, John. Winning with People. Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville, Tennesse. 2004.
4-6. Kempis, Thomas a. The Imitation of Christ. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola, New York. 2003.
“My daughter, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you...” is playing in the background.
Job had a wonderful ability to continue to look to and trust God in his pain and suffering. He deeply loved God and desired with His whole heart not to sin against Him. In all that was taken away from Job, he did not become offended. He did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1:22).
Job lost everything he owned, his servants and his children. When he found out about it, he tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground and worshiped. He proclaimed, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has take away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
Then when Satan attacked his health, Job's wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse god and die!” But Job refused to become offended, he responded, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9-10)
Once the pain had time to settle in and Job's three friends came to comfort him, sitting with him in silence for seven days, he finally opened up his heart to them and began expressing his pain. He cursed the day he was born and expressed his great misery.
Just being present with someone in their pain speaks comfort and care for that person that words often cannot. John Maxwell writes, “Leaders seldom realize how much their listening empowers the other person. Because they are leaders, the sheer act of listening speaks volumes that even a great can't communicate.” He notes that listening communicates the value of the other person and his or her thoughts. It also communicates love and understanding and care for their needs. [1]
When his friends finally spoke, instead of finding comfort and understanding for his pain, what Job found was presumption and judgment. His friends thought that his pain and suffering must have to do with sin that God was punishing Job for and therefore was well deserved.
When Job would not repent, Eliphaz says to him, “Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquity without end? For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have not given the weary water to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. But the mighty man possessed the land, and the honorable man dwelt in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed. Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden fear troubles you, or darkness so that you cannot see; And an abundance of water covers you.” (Job 22:5-11)
Rather than being there for him and helping him through a difficult time, his friends just added more misery to his pain. Job became stuck in trying to prove his righteousness. He felt he needed to justify himself as righteous to his friends. And in justifying himself as righteous, he was accusing God of being an unjust judge.
Job answered his friends, “Even today my complaint is bitter; my hand is listless because of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat! I would present my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments.....And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.” (Job 23:2-7)
“I was fully deserving of death, but you saw me there, because of your great love God, you saw me there because You're rich in mercy. … And it's by Your grace that I was saved, it's the very gift of God” sings.
Job was certain that his own righteousness would save him. He said, “When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
Job believed the very same thing as his friends – that suffering was the result of sin. If someone was suffering, ultimately it was because of their own sin. And, if they turned from their sin, God would forgive them and relent.
Having now experienced suffering in his own life, he was lost for how to respond, other than call God unjust for his judgments against him and stand on his own righteousness.
Job told his friends about the way he lived his life, “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know. I broke the fangs of the wicked, and plucked the victim from his teeth. Then I said, 'I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand.'” (Job 29:14-18)
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me” sings in the background.
Ultimately, it was Job's friend Elihu who helped Job see that he could not justify himself with God by his own righteousness. Elihu helped Job to get to a place where he could hear from God for himself. When Job could finally get to this place, he could see his sin and fully repented.
Elihu had influence with him that Job's other friends did not have. What Elihu did that was different from his friends was:
Elihu listened first.
Elihu stood back and let Job and his other three friends converse before he spoke up. At the same time, he truly listened to what was being said. He wasn't thinking about what he would say when he got his turn. He said, “Indeed I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say. I paid close attention to you” (Job 32:11-12).
Elihu spoke his own heart.
Elihu did not just go along and agree with the other three of Job's friends. He also did not speak what Job or anyone else wanted to hear. He spoke exactly what was on his heart. He told them, “Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone; nor let me flatter any man. For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.” (Job 32:21-22)
Elihu approached Job from a place of humility, compassion, and servanthood.
Elihu told Job, “Truly I am as your spokesman [literally, your mouth] before God; I also have been formed out of clay. Surely no fear of me will terrify you, nor will my hand be heavy on you.” (Job 33:6-7)
Elihu demonstrated that he understood Job's core complaint and reflected his thoughts back to him.
Steven Covey often says, “Seek first to understand, then be understood.” Elihu used his understanding to reflect back to Job what he was saying so Job knew he was understood and could hear his own thoughts. This did not mean that Elihu was agreeing with Job's thinking, but that he understood and had listened to him. Job had been truly heard by Elihu. Elihu told Job, “And I have heard the sound of your words, saying, 'I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me. Yet He finds occasions against me, He counts me as His enemy; He puts my feet in the stocks, He watches all my paths.” (Job 33:9-11)
Elihu established a heart connection with Job.
Too often people are full of opinions and judgments while they fail to make a heart connection with others. It is the heart connection that puts one in position to truly influence change. John Maxwell writes, “We voice our opinions even though we remain ignorant of important information and lack any heart connection to our audience. Job called his friends, 'miserable comforters.'”
John Maxwell goes on to note the key differences between those who are public speakers and those who communicate in a way that connects and has influence. He notes about the differences:
“Public Speakers:
- Seek to be understood and liked
- Asks: What do I have?
- Focuses on techniques
- Is self-conscious
- Wants to complete the speech
- [Is] Content-oriented
Communicators:
- Seek to understand and connect
- Asks: What do they need?
- Focuses on atmosphere
- Is audience-oriented
- Wants to complete the people
- [Is] Change oriented.” [2]
Elihu confronted the sin directly without judging Job.
There is a leadership quote that says, 'Focus on the problem, not the person [as the source of the problem].' Elihu confronted the action that was sin without insulting Job as a person, making him feel small. Elihu gave Job dignity and respect.
This was something his other three friends failed to do. Job had told his other friends when they confronted him, “No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you! But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?” (Job 12:2-3).
Elihu also waited for the right timing to confront Job. He first demonstrated that he understood Job's complaint, reflected it back to him in humility, and made a heart connection. It was only then that Elihu confronted Job about his complaint, telling him, “Look, in this you are not righteous.” (Job 33:12)
Elihu sought the best interest of Job.
There is a leadership quote that says, “Don't ask for their hand until you have their heart.” If you want to have genuine influence, trust and relationship will come before requesting action. Job was at a place where he could hear from Elihu and allow him to speak in his life because Elihu had done the work needed to make a heart connection with him first. Elihu had influence with Job because Job knew that Elihu had his best interest at heart. Elihu tells job, “If you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.'”
Elihu points Job back to God and not to himself.
By speaking the truth about God's goodness, Elihu directs Job back to look to God for answers. He tells Job, “One who is perfect in knowledge is with you. Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding” (Job 36:4-5).
Elihu then proclaims the majesty of God, reminding Job that he is not contending with a man who is his equal. He tells Job, “Remember to magnify His work, of which men have sung. Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar. 'Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.” (Job 36:24-26)
Elihu asks Job questions that cause Job to reflect on his accusations against God.
Elihu asks Job, “Do you know how the clouds are balanced, those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge? Why are your garments hot, when He quiets the earth by the south wind? With Him, have you spread out the skies, strong as a cast metal mirror?”
Elihu strikes at the heart of Job's sin as he poses questions back to Job. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” And David proclaims in Psalm 141:5, “Let a righteous man strike me--it is a kindness; let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers.”
Elihu created space for God to speak.
Elihu made room for God to speak directly to Job. The end result is that Job heard God speaking to him again. God ask job, “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.” (Job 40:2). Before this Job had mentioned he could no longer hear from God. He had told his friends, “Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.” (Job 23:8-9)
Elihu made room where Job could feel safe being open and vulnerable about his sin.
Once Job could hear from God himself, he could truly see where he was wrong and repent. Because of Elihu's humble approach and nonjudgmental attitude, he created space where Job could feel safe being open and vulnerable about his sin. Job told God, “Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.” (Job 40:4-5)
Elihu helped Job get what he needed most, to encounter God.
It was in this place of repenting and being fully open and vulnerable that Job actually encountered God. Job spoke, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Job realized that he could not stand on his own righteousness and he came to put his feet on the only Rock that could support him. Job, like all of us, needed a Savior.
“I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see!”
Finally, Encountering God led Job to forgiveness of his friends.
God will always lead us towards forgiveness and peace with others. Job had experienced tremendous persecution by his three friends. They not only failed to understand him in his suffering, but they jumped to conclusions about him and spread all kinds of accusations. When Job most needed friends, they were his worst enemies. Yet, we are never justified in holding a grudge or unforgiveness towards anyone. The Lord called Job's friends to repent and Job to pray for them. Jesus says in Matthew 5:44, to bless those who curse you and pray for those who persecute you.”
[a]
So what can I learn from this?
Anything short of treating others with unconditional love is sin. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” When someone has treated me poorly, I often struggle with loving them well. I judge them for their actions and accuse them in my heart but fail to judge myself for my reaction.
This does not mean that we automatically absolve everyone who causes us pain and act like a doormat for them to walk all over. But rather than judge them for their actions and react towards them, we deal with them directly in private with a heart to understand first and make peace with them.
“May You find this heart loyal to You...May you be all that's on my mind all the time. Let my heart be torn in two until Your will is mine.” sings
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
John Whit, quoted by John Maxwell noted, “We gossip because we fail to love. When we love people, we don't criticize them. If we love them, their failures hurt. We don't advertise the sins of people we love any more than we advertise our own.” [3]
Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”
Sometimes it is easy for me to complain against someone who hurt me rather than showing them grace and thinking the best of them. I believe that their actions reflect their heart towards me when they hurt me. I fail to forgive them and hold a grudge. When I do this, I sometimes even fail to notice and appreciate if they do something kind.
I am also quick to judge and write off someone who has demonstrated a pattern of hurting me in a certain way. Rather than seeking to understand, I assume I know what they are thinking and judge them for it.
I believe it was Steven Covey who once said that how we treat the most difficult person in our lives is significant because everyone is this 'one' at heart. I believe he noted, 'You cannot do wrong in one area of your life while attempting to do right in the other areas. Life is an interconnected whole.'
“I want to be found faithful, I want to be found steady, I want to be found faithful until the end. I don't wanna be ashamed when I see your face, make my footsteps firm, hold me in your grace” sings.
We are to love because Christ first loved us. We forgive because we have been forgiven much. It is love that caused Job to worship God when all was taken away from Him. It was love that caused Job to proclaim “though He slay me, yet I will trust him” when he was suffering tremendous losses.
“At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah. You're the one who saved me. The one who gave me this life I live... Let the whole world know I love you lord” sings.
Thomas a Kempis writes, “Love is an excellent thing, a very great blessing, indeed. It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity. For it bears a burden without being weighted and renders sweet all that is bitter.” [4]
He goes on to write that nothing is greater than love. He notes, “Love often knows no limits but overflows all bounds. Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things. For this reason, it is able to do all, preforming and effecting much where he who does not love fails and falls.” [5]
Love forgets about itself. One who receives much love, is free to give out of the abundance and fullness of having everything one needs. And love takes no note of suffering. As Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 13, love bears all things.
Thomas a Kempis writes, “He who is not ready to suffer all things and to stand resigned to the will of the Beloved is not worthy to be called a lover. A lover must embrace willingly all that is difficult and bitter for the sake of the Beloved, and he should not turn away from Him because of adversities.” [6]
Love is most fully expressed in suffering. Jesus expressed His love for us by suffering on the cross for our sins. 1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
In 1 Peter 2:19-24 it says, “For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His steps. 'Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth'; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -by whose stripes you were healed.”
What sometimes happens for me is that I willingly suffer but I do so grudgingly at times. Rather than appreciating the opportunity to express my love for Jesus through following in His footsteps, I shrink back or complain in my heart about suffering for Him.
We are to gladly embrace suffering with humility. Like Job and Paul, we are to worship and praise God in the midst of it. Peter says, that we are to rejoice to the extent that we are invited to partake in Christ's sufferings (1 Peter 4:13).
“Will you lay down your life?... Will you be a friend of the Bridegroom?... I am coming” is playing in the background.
Lord, I have sinned. I have complained and not suffered well. I have been ungrateful when you have given me so much. You answered my prayers to show my love for You more by giving me more opportunities to do so. And I have complained about them rather than embrace them with joy.
I have also failed to love others well. I have judged people in my heart at times and thought the worst of them. I have saw only their shortcomings and failed to believe the best about them. I have not truly forgiven them but held a grudge. Forgive me.
“Don't let me stumble while your heart is breaking, wake me up to feel what you feel” sings.
Lord, if we cannot love our brothers well, how can we possibly love the least and the lost well. Forgive us wherever we fall short. Help us to be more like Elihu, who so freely gave your love away and extended a hand to help his brother up in his sin rather than standing back and judging him.
Lord, I pray we would walk worthy of the calling with which we were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3)
a. Some of the material on Job and Elihu was based out of a sermon I heard a year or so ago called “The Comforter” by Pastor David Johnson, Church of the Open Door.
1-2. Maxwell, John. The Maxwell Leadership Bible, Second Edition. NKJV. Lessons in Leadership from the Word of God. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, Tennessee. 2007.
3. Maxwell, John. Winning with People. Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville, Tennesse. 2004.
4-6. Kempis, Thomas a. The Imitation of Christ. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola, New York. 2003.
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