WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
( the story of JOB )
ALL my life
I have been BLESSED
By having
The most amazing friends
But everyone
Is NOT that fortunate
Everyone does not
Have loyal and amazing friends
All we have to do
Is look to the Bible
To the story of Job
Job begins
As one of the wealthiest
And most prominent men
On the face of the earth
He fears God
And is upright in his living
God tells Satan,
“Have you considered
My servant Job
There is no one
On earth like him
He is blameless
And upright
A man who fears God
And shuns evil”
Job 1:8
The devil basically says,
“Why wouldn’t he
He has everything---family-health-wealth
What if he were to lose everything”
God’s response,
“Very well then
Everything he has is in your hands
But on the man himself
Do not lay a finger”
Job 1:12
The devil
Takes away
Job’s family, his health, and his wealth
Job has 3 friends:
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
They come to comfort
But they end up discussing his life
And insist his suffering
Is for some sin in his life
Which of us
Hasn’t had some friend
Sometime in our life
That though meaning well
Experienced some betrayal
Or little act of treason
From them
ALL of us have
And if we are lucky
Our friendship survives
Finally a fourth friend Elihu
Comes to see him
And tells Job
That he needs to humble himself before God
And let God purify him
Even Job’s own wife says,
“Are you still
Holding on to your integrity
Curse God and die”
Job 2:9
Yet despite his suffering
Job says to his wife,
“You are talking
Like a foolish woman
Shall we accept
GOOD from God-and not trouble” Job 2:10
Finally Job does QUESTION GOD
And Job learns valuable lessons
About the NEED
To totally trust God
Because
God does RESTORE
Job’s health, happiness, and prosperity
Even beyond his earlier state
So when trouble
Confronts us in this life
I pray
That you and I have a heart like Job---
And the FAITH of Job
And that we KNOW
That God deserves our love
REGARDLESS of our lot in life
And that God is enough
I have one last wish for you
And that is
That you be BLESSED
With FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Like I have had
NOT like Job
Robert P. Wallman
6-18-12
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