My First Post - Job 16:2-5

Job is probably one of the books of the Bible which takes little ability read and relate.  I think we use it more to the negative than the positive, but it's always fun to use the phrase "the patience of Job".  The fact is that Job was probably not considered super patient in the daily, just patient in that he endured.

Here is the passage from Job Chapter 16 Verses 2 thru 5:

“I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you!    Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?    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.    But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief. (Job 16:2-5 NIV)

Here are my thoughts:

Wow.  We have all felt like this at one point or another.  How many times have we experienced some sort of challenge, confided in a (so called) friend, only to receive a lecture on "better living".  One of the several things we can gleen from the story of Job is the importance of developing a greater ability to share the grace of Jesus.  Whether a friend is experiencing a difficulty that was "self-inflicted" or one that was beyond control, it remains one that was neither expected nor welcome.  Our place as friends, then, is to share the grace that was and IS Jesus.  Jesus died for our sins NOT due to our worth as people, but due to our worth to God.  God knew our capacity to sin was greater than our capacity for relationship with Him; thus, He knew we needed an out.  Our out is Jesus. He came to us in the midst of our brokenness, in the midst of our stupidity and said simply, "I love you and still want you to be called my friend".  As that age old song says, truly, what a friend we have in Jesus.