42 days with Job. Day 5.

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects;

so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty."

"For He wounds, but he also binds up;

he injures, but His hands also heal."

So yesterday I was in quite a foul mood, and after having gone over what I wrote about ch. 3 and 4 I may have been a bit harsh on Job's buddies. Chapter 5 is a continuation of what Job's friend is saying, and I found it somewhat interesting that I was still a bit skeptical on what the friends' true intentions were (whether he was trying to make himself sound godly or whether he was truly speaking from a heart of concern and love) and it got me thinking. I realized that most of what this friend says are true, and I find that they are things I might even say to offer as words of encouragement, BUT had I been on the listening end (Job's shoes) I want to think that I would be more receptive than skeptical. This observation of mine has sort of shed some light on something insightful about my character development...bottom line I need to stop worrying about whether people are genuine or not and just take wisdom for what it is...wisdom. Even if this friend was speaking from a shallow motive, what he says is still very powerful and foundational stuff. He talks about how God performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, and miracles that cannot be counted. How God bestows even rain on the earth and sends water to the countryside. All of these things show a Creator God who is basically in control of any and every situation, so in relation to Job, the friend is saying that although Job is suffering now, God is in control and can renew Job's situation if he appeals to God. However, I'm a little set off since you would think Job, being a righteous man of God and all, would have already appealed to God like no other man has ever appealed to God before! Which is what I believe led me to believe that this friend is just talking for the sake of talking, shooting blanks. I guess it depends on your type of personality. Some people just can't stand the silence. Me, on the other hand, I have an affinity toward silent encounters. I would much rather hear a few minutes of something meaningful, rather than hours and hours of something I don't care about or that makes no sense....like boy drama.

There isn't much more I can comment on ch. 5, being that it is mainly an extension of ch. 4, but I will say this. The words can seem encouraging enough, but given Job's current situation I would have preferred a more brief summary of what has already been known, but that's just me.

I guess the lesson from this chapter can be to encourage wisely, and to be conscious of what sort of pain the other person is really experiencing, and to speak from the heart instead of from the A.D.D. of wanting to fill in the awkward silence.