Today, I read chapter 16, where Job replies to Eliphaz. In the last chapter, Eliphaz put out a scathing and curt accusation - surely Job has sinned, and he is trying to cover it up, he says.
Job's reply to Eliphaz's harshness is a reprimand, saying he would never speak to his friends the way they have spoken to him if the roles were reversed.
Job 16:4-5, "I also could speak as ye do; if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you, but I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief."
Do our words strengthen our friends during trials? Or do we shake our heads at them and cast questions as to why they are in such a trial? To shake the head signifies scorn, mockery, or disgust at someone suffering in misery or weakness. In Matthew 27:39, we read, "And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads." This is the reaction of those around the cross toward our Lord. I don't want to be numbered in that crowd. Do you? So it calls me to mercy and appropriate language when I am speaking to someone enduring a trial.
Job goes on to say how his friends' words make him feel. They made him feel weary and alone. Then, in verse eight, he says, "thou hast filled me with wrinkles." That is such an apt description of how harsh and unmerciful words affect the soul. They shrivel. They cut into the skin. They cause wrinkles.
But Job turns away from his friends and casts himself upon the Lord because he believes this trial is the hand of God at work, and that he is innocent of sin. His soul does not condemn him. Verse 17, "not for any injustice in mine hands; also my prayer is pure."
When we come to trials, one of the first things we should do is judge whether it has come as a result of our sin. Is our Father chastising us? Is He trying to correct us or redirect our path? Are we reaping what we have sown? Being honest with God and repenting of our sins is first.
Then, if our hearts do not condemn us, if we know of no known sin, we can sit with Job in full faith.
Casting ourselves upon God, praying through tears, and waiting upon the Lord to answer are acts of faith. It is not a weakness to yield all to the Lord. If we believe our times are in His hands, which they truly are, and that He is sovereign, which He truly is, faith is our wisest stance and action.
Faith doesn't always look powerful. It doesn't always come donned in armor. Sometimes it looks like tears and weakness. Sometimes it is quiet and broken. Sometimes it's a matter of waiting.
Psalm 27:13-14, "I had fainted (I would have given up in grief), unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord."
So, if you are in a day of weakness, if you are in the grief of a heavy trial, cast yourself upon Him. Pray, even through your tears, and wait on the Lord. He will keep His promise to bring strength to your trusting soul. Maintain your faith during the day of weakness.
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