Reading: Job 42:7-17
We all have experienced issues with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes they become very heated and we get an attitude towards the person. Sometimes that attitude penetrates into our hearts so much that it hinders our relationship with them indefinitely. When we have such encounters we forget about their walk with Christ and we focus on how they have treated us. Usually we will go over and over in our minds what they have said to us and we stew upon it for days, weeks, or even months. But wait could the suffering we are enduring from them be how God is working in their lives? Would it be so obscure to think that God could be working in their lives through our suffering?What characteristics come to mind when you think of Job? Meaning the man in the Bible, not the daily job you have been blessed with by God for your provision. When I think of Job I think of faithfulness, patience, endurance, and righteousness. However, forgiving? That was something I never thought about until the Lord led me in doing so in my reading of Job 42. We all remember how much Job suffered from the lost of family and live stock to the physical turmoil that he endured. We often forget about on top of all of this he had three friends who were "helping" him by trying to get him to repent to God for his sin. They just knew that Job had done wrong and if he would only repent of his sin to God that God would forgive him. Job stood his ground. He didn't understand why he was suffering, but he certainly knew in his heart that he did no wrong towards God.
When we read the Bible story today, it is easy for us to forget about the emotions that were bound to be involved with these men. There were certainly heated moments during the dialogs. I really don't think they sat and had a "good 'ole boy" discussion about Job's situation without getting upset with each other. Especially with each side thinking they were right. However, in the end God expresses to one of the friends, Eliphaz, that Job spoke accurately, but they did not. He expresses it not only once but two times. So what does the Lord tell Eliphaz and his two friends to do, "take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you and I will accept his prayer on your behalf." (Job 42a). He sends them to Job for a prayer offering. And what is amazing is that the righteousness of Job shines through right until the end. For when they came to Job he didn't turn them away, he offered the prayer of forgiveness for them. Do you think you would have done the same?
Do you pray for those who wrong you? As Christians, we have no choice on the topic of forgiveness. If we are to be obedient to Christ, He has told us that we must forgive. This is to be as natural to us as breathing. However, beyond the act of forgiving in our own hearts, we should pray for the ones who have offended us. Pray for God to lift them up and bring them closer to Him. You never know, it may be your reaction to the suffering you have endured by them that brings them that much closer to Christ.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, it is hard to forgive others when they have wronged us, but even harder is praying for them. Help me to be righteous, like Job, by giving me a heart that not only wants to be obedient to you and forgive, but wants to draw others to you as well - even through the suffering they may cause me. Give me a heart like Jesus. Amen.
