Job - Day 2

Read Job 4-7

Today's Devotion: Job 5:6-9, 27

6 For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.

8 "But if it were I, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.

9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

27 "We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself." (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

Between verses 9 and 27, the speaker, Eliphaz, expounds upon the wonderful things God will do for those who are faithful and return to Him.

Doesn't it seem easy to look at someone else's life and determine what needs done? We can quickly identify what others are doing wrong, or are not doing, and provide specific advice gained from years of our own experiences. And for some reason we feel obligated to share this wisdom with others, often in the form of a statement that starts something like, "If you would just..."

Hmmm, sounds like the same situation Jesus spoke of when he mentioned how we try to remove a speck from someone else's eye, but ignoring the plank in our own!

The older we get, the more experiences and lessons learned we store up. When someone else is going through a similar situation, it's only natural to want to help him by sharing the things we've learned the hard way. However, if you think back to those times, there was someone on the sidelines telling US how to respond...and we weren't very attentive to their advice.

Even if a situation looks identical to one we've survived, those going through the situation feel like they are alone in their struggle. They need the time to learn on their own, yes often the hard way, for them to make it through intact. Our advice may be better received if we can just bite our tongues until it's asked for.

Oops...looks like I didn't follow my own advice! Nevermind.....