Out in the Cold

Made it to the end of the week but have entered into the 7th month of July time is moving so here are some words of wisdom as we entered into this month of July with Read: Job 11:7-20 Bible in a Year: Job 20-21; Acts 10:24-48 To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. —Job 12:13 In desperation, a woman called the housing assistance center where I worked. A heating problem had turned her rental home into a freezer with furniture. Panicked, she asked me how she would care for her children. I hurriedly replied with the scripted official response: “Just move into a hotel and send the landlord the bill.” She angrily hung up on me. I knew the textbook answer to her question, but I had completely missed her heart. She wanted someone to understand her fear and desperation. She needed to know she wasn’t alone. In essence, I had left her out in the cold. After Job had lost everything, he had friends with answers but little understanding. Zophar told him all he needed to do was live wholeheartedly for God. Then “life will be brighter than noonday,” he said (11:17). That counsel wasn’t well received, and Job responded with scathing sarcasm: “Wisdom will die with you!” (12:2). He knew the dissatisfying taste of textbook answers to real-world problems. It’s easy to be critical of Job’s friends for their failure to see the big picture. But how often are we too quick with answers to questions we don’t truly understand? People do want answers. But more than that, they want to know we hear and understand. They want to know we care. —Tim Gustafson Father, help us to be a friend first before we offer advice to others. Thank You for the privilege of sharing our hearts with You in prayer. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit so that we will never be alone. Before people want to hear what you say, they want to know that you care. INSIGHT: Many scholars consider the book of Job to be the oldest biblical book, though it does not contain the oldest stories about the creation of the universe and the fall of the human race (see Genesis). It is fitting, therefore, that the oldest biblical book would deal with the most universally experienced human reality—the presence of suffering in the world. Bill Crowder