{"id":7101,"date":"2020-01-09T20:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T03:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=7101"},"modified":"2020-01-10T15:58:48","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T22:58:48","slug":"job6_14-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/job6_14-30\/","title":{"rendered":"When Friends Let You Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Job 6:14-30 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Job 6:14-30.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Job 6:14-21 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 14-21:\u00a0\u00a0After lamenting his pain in verses 1-13, Job expresses his disappointment in his friends.\u00a0\u00a0Job thought that even if he was in a bad place with God (\u201ceven though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty\u201d (v14)), he would still have his friends\u2019 support (v14).\u00a0\u00a0But in Job\u2019s mind his friends have been \u201cundependable\u201d (v15).\u00a0\u00a0First, he compares his friends to intermittent streams that come and go depending on the season they are in (v15-17).\u00a0\u00a0Next Job compares his situation to a thirsty traveler riding in a fleet of caravans who goes off-roading into the wasteland to search for water, only to find nothing (v18-21).\u00a0\u00a0Job was thirsting for comfort so he sought refuge in his friends, but he didn\u2019t find anything close to the comfort he was looking for.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0All of us wish for dependable friends we can count on no matter what.\u00a0\u00a0But whether it\u2019s because our expectations are too high or our friends lack in a certain area, sometimes we will be disappointed in our friends.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0What do you do then?\u00a0When friends let you down, remember that God is the only 100% faithful friend you can count on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, Job thought he would find comfort in his friends \u201ceven though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty\u201d (v14).\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0when we don\u2019t make friendship with God our number one priority (or in Job\u2019s words, when we \u201cforsake the fear of the Lord\u201d), it exacerbates our disappointment in people.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s because we start looking to our friends to give us a peace, a joy and a satisfaction that only God can give.
\n
\nJob 6:22-23 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless’?<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 22-23:\u00a0\u00a0Job\u2019s disappointment in his friends is magnified because Job was a great friend who was there for others (see Job 4:3-4).\u00a0\u00a0Job was not the type to ask his friends for help, but he would habitually give help to his friends.\u00a0\u00a0Now, on this one occasion when Job needs his friends, his friends are not there for him the way he wants them to be.\u00a0\u00a0I know we tend to get down on Job\u2019s three friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar a lot, but at least they showed up to comfort Job!\u00a0\u00a0Think of all the other people whom Job had helped in the past who were now nowhere to be found as soon as Job lost his finances, family and power.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Your truest friends are those who are there for you not just when things are going well, but when things couldn\u2019t seem to get any worse.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0As Proverbs\u00a017:17\u00a0says, \u201cA friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Job 6:24-25 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 24-30:\u00a0\u00a0Job invites his friends to show him where, if anywhere, he has gone wrong (v24).\u00a0\u00a0At the same time, Job is hurt by how his friends have shown little discretion when speaking honestly from their hearts (\u201chow painful are honest words\u201d (v25)). He is offended by how they are trying harder to correct him than to comfort him (v26).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Job feels like his friends have treated him and his now deceased children as headlines to talk about instead of human beings to care for (v27).\u00a0\u00a0Job asks his friends to reconsider before concluding that he is suffering because of his sin (v28-30).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Your words matter.\u00a0\u00a0As Proverbs\u00a012:18\u00a0says,\u00a0<\/strong>\u201c<\/sup><\/strong>Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0When you feel the need to say something that is not easy for others to hear, be careful to speak the truth in love.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In Thrive Discipleship School Level 2, we give you several practical keys to speaking the truth in love.\u00a0\u00a0Keep those keys in mind the next time you want to say something difficult hard for others to hear.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Especially when others are going through a difficult time,\u00a0may your words bring life to others and not death.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, whenever I am disappointed in my friends, help me to surrender that feeling to You, and give me the right perspective for moving forward.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You that in You, Your Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I have a faithful friend like no other.\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Job 6:14-30.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Job 6:14-21 (NIV)\u00a0
\n14\u00a0\u00a0“A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
\n16\u00a0\u00a0when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
\n17\u00a0\u00a0but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
\n18\u00a0\u00a0Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.
\n19\u00a0\u00a0The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
\n20\u00a0\u00a0They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
\n21\u00a0\u00a0Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7101"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7104,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7101\/revisions\/7104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}