So, Job's friend Eliphaz decides to talk to Job. I can't really figure out what his goal was. Was he trying to comfort him? Or was he trying to belittle him? It's such a close line between the two I get confused sometimes.
Anyways..the verses that caught my eye:
4:6 Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
(This would be considered complete blasphemy today, which is probably why we demonize Job's friends throughout the entire book, always discounting their advice, even though it's actually a narrative version of any of the wisdom you would find in Proverbs.)
5:8 But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
(I know this is super cliche, but sometimes I can't help it. Amidst everything, no matter what the situation, this is always a good plan. Lay all that you have before him: your hopes and dreams, your fears, your disappointments. When we truly do surrender all that we are, we end up on the other side ruined for what I've dubbed 'cultural christianity'.)
5:18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
(So often people look at this verse and focus on the second part of each phrase. People want to be reminded of how good God is to us, he will always be there for us. But I think it is a fatal error to miss the beginnings of these phrases. He wounds. He injures. Life is not going to be rainbows and butterflies because God is going to hurt us. Shoot, he forsook his own son while he was on the cross. Why do we forget that God will test our faith and put us through hard times to see how much we truly love and trust him.)
Overall, Eliphaz's response was to be expected. Remember what your religion has taught you. As much as we would like to say that in times of trouble we look to the Bible for an explanation, we don't. We look to all that 'cultural christianity' has taught us. We do the same thing as Eliphaz did to Job.
We quote Bible verses like Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" Or Philippians 1:6, "he who began a good work will carry it on to completion". Personally, those verses, used in this way, tend to make me gag. I hate the way we throw verses around as a way to avoid (or really ignore) suffering. They probably don't actually apply to the situation and do very little to make people feel better.
Might I suggest a different way?
Why don't we sit with people in their suffering? Acknowledge the suckiness of life and recognize there is no way we can fix it. And cliche bible verses don't make it better. Instead, be with people when they are in pain. I know it makes us super uncomfortable because so much of the American mindset is to avoid pain at all costs. But stop trying to offer the light at the end of the tunnel. Stop trying to point people to the hope that God's Word promises and instead be the hands and feet of Jesus in comforting through your presence. Instead of quoting a bible verse and running away from a situation that makes you uncomfortable because you can't fix it, be uncomfortable so that you can be with the person you care about. That shows God's love so much more than a few words could ever do.
I know I don't have any concrete bible verses to back this up...but it seems to be what I've seen expressed throughout the bible as a whole, not in any one particular verse. When you come into a situation that requires wisdom, don't remember what your religion has taught you. Don't quote some cliche bible verse out of context. Look to the character of God as portrayed in the bible. Don't rely on your religion to have the answers to all your problems. Your God will always be there, but sometimes he lets you suffer and simply says, "I love you."
Conclusion: God. Always go back to God. Always.
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