Job with Senior Pastor Mike Voigts

Job with Senior Pastor Mike Voigts

This week, our readings have been from the book of Job. It’s not been the most exciting parts of the Bible, nor seemingly the most inspirational. Reading the Bible is just like walking through life: Most of the time, life is seemingly uneventful. However, every once in a while, we experience something significant and memorable. That happened to me when I got to Job 32 in our readings. Up to this point, we’ve seen Job and his so-called friends process life, question God’s decisions, and wallow a bit.

Then someone named Elihu arrives and puts an end to all of this. He’s frustrated with Job’s three friends and with Job himself and feels like he needs to say something. He’s hesitated to say anything before this, because in that culture, younger men defer to older men. Elihu is frustrated with Job’s attitude and frustrated with Job’s friends because in all their advice to Job, they offered nothing to help him. It’s almost as if Elihu called a Time Out so he could vent. His frustration and anger became too much to bear, and he burst forth what he needed to say, even though he was taking a big risk socially by disrespecting these older men.

Elihu is a great example to us of people who have the courage to speak truth into someone’s life even though they may be taking a big risk in doing so. When we see someone who is listening to the wrong voices, it’s our responsibility to speak God’s truth into their life. Of course, it’s always important to check our motivations before we do this (we don’t want to share our opinion, but God’s truth) and to be sure we’re being led by the Holy Spirit and not by any personal, selfish motives.

As we read through the book of Job, we can find it sometimes difficult to process. However, stick with it! You never know when the Holy Spirit will speak to you as a type of Elihu, showing you things about yourself and God that can deepen your love for Christ.