Shut Up And Pray!

But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth. [Job 5.6]

Right or wrong?

I see many statements by Job and his friends that are correct. There are many sound declarations made by the characters of this story. So, why are they all rebuked at the end of the story?

Ultimately, I think every one of Job's friends, was operating out of pride. It appears to me that the lot of them could have been talking less and praying more. In fact, they could have been intently interceding for Job. They may have gotten some of their facts right, but they still missed the Spirit of God because at the end of the story, God Himself said they misspoke about Him.

Because God rebuked them and Job was required at the end of this story to intercede for his friends, it must be concluded therefore that his friends needed to be prayed for. In other words, Job's friends were not exactly right in their "help" of Job.

That fact is, as we will see again this year, that Job was not right either. This was evidenced in God's rebuke of Job.

In fact, as the story will bear out, Job himself should have been less argumentative and more prayerful because when he finally prayed for his friends (as instructed by God) his fortunes were restored (Job 42.10).

I suppose that arguments and speculations (like mine here) about Job will go on as long as the Lord tarries from returning. However, what I see from this long story is that there were a lot of words invested on describing and explaining God rather than being spent on prayer for one another. Job was in need - real need. I am not sure all the "God lessons" by Job's friends were necessarily helpful. Likewise, Job's responses could be seen as equally useless as none of their bantering back and forth produced any good for the situation!

Proverbs 10.19 says, "Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut."

Lesson to be learned from Job? Maybe it is, "Shut up and pray!"

Father, I realize that I am really no different that Job or his friends. However, I do see as this story unfolds that You Yourself demanded some prayer at the end. Help me to focus more on that than just being "right" in my assessment of Job's story.