WPA Blog

Week 3: When Friends Fail

BEGIN this week by reading Job chapters 29-37.
Don’t worry, they aren’t super long!

REFLECT & PRAY

If you haven’t experienced it yet, you will. Friends will fail us at some point. Its not because they no longer care about us, its because no one is perfect. But sometimes, we can fall into the trap that our friend can and should do no wrong. After all, we’ve given them our trust. We’ve done life with them. They know our secrets and we expect that they are on our side. So what happens when one of our friends fail us? How do we respond and move forward?

Sometimes we give Zophar, Eliphaz, and Bildad a bad wrap because they’re advice was not helpful or correct. But they were there with Job, which means they deeply cared for their friend. But ultimately, they failed Job.

As you read through the scriptures for this week, look closely at how Job responds to his friends, but also what Elihu says to both Job and the others. When friends fail, we need to be able to forgive them. Maybe their failure means you can no longer be around them, but maybe there is a way to reconcile and move forward in your friendship. It won’t be the same as it was before, but it could be stronger for it.

Is there a friend in your life that you need to forgive for failing you?
Is there a friend in your life that you’ve failed and need to ask forgiveness? 
How is Elihu’s response different than the other friends?
What is different about Job’s final response to his friends than the others?
How do you feel these passages relate to you and your life right now?

We would love to pray with you this week! Email Pastor Andrew.
If you would like to dig deeper, ask us for our 40 day devotional on Job!

Week 2: Why Am I Suffering?

BEGIN this week by reading Job chapters 7-13.
Don’t worry, they aren’t super long!

WATCH this video to gain a greater understanding of the structure of the Book of Job

REFLECT & PRAY

Have you ever gone through something tough and felt like no one understood what you were going through? Worse yet, your “friends” try to help by offering answers that just make you feel worse.

Though our situations may be different, I think everyone has felt this at one time in their life and this was exactly what Job went through.

But as much as we might see ourselves as Job, I think we are meant to see ourselves more as his friends. Eliphaz pointed out that those who are truly godly and holy will never suffer at the hand of God, but Job was living proof that even the righteous may suffer temporarily. Bildad believed that Job had forgotten God, become apathetic in his faith, but that Job could remember God again and be restored back into right relationship with God. However, the irony was that Job was already in right relationship with God. Zophar suggested that Job had received less wrath from God than he actually deserved; it is as if God had forgotten some of his sins. The problem here was that he used God’s voice to bolster his personal opinions. To do so is to offend the God and to say something He never actually said.

What Zophar, Eliphaz, and Bildad were unaware of was how God really viewed Job. They were operating off of their own assumptions from what they were seeing and hearing from Job because they did not see or hear anything from God.

When we are going through something hard, we need to be careful about who we allow to speak into our life. Are they friends and people who are listening to God’s voice or are they simply working on their own ideas and assumptions?

And when our friends are going through really tough times, we also need to be careful about what we say. Are we allowing God’s wisdom and voice to speak through us, or are we using God’s voice to try and prove our assumptions?

How often do we assume what is in the heart of a person?
Because of our assumptions, how often do we give inaccurate advice? 
What do you think Job actually needed from his friends? Advice or presence?
Why do you think we are always quick to offer advice and help, but slow to encourage and be present?
How do you feel this story relates to you and your life right now?

We would love to pray with you this week! Email Pastor Andrew.
If you would like to dig deeper, ask us for our 40 day devotional on Job!

Week 1: The Sovereignty of God

BEGIN this week by reading Job chapters 1-3.

WATCH this video once you’ve read Job 1-3 to help give you some context

REFLECT & PRAY

Has there ever been a moment in your life when you wished you were never born?

We cannot let one moment in history define our reason for living. Our purpose is discovered throughout the course of our lives. But there are many moments in our life where we, like Job, move from faith and optimism to fear and pessimism. Job makes a bold statement of faith and hope, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” in Job 1:21. Then argues, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” in Job 2:7. But like Job, we can only manage so much before we become completely overwhelmed. And so by the time we get to chapter 3, we find Job wishing he was never even a thought.

In the fragile moments of life, we begin to doubt our belief in God. We lose perspective of where He is in our life. We wonder why things are happening. Sadly, things do not immediately get better for Job because there is no quick answer to the question of suffering. We must press on one day at a time, believing God has our back and will help us persevere. We don’t know when and we don’t know how, but God will reward the one who suffers. If not on this side of eternity, the next as Revelation 22 tells us.

We would love to pray with you this week! Email Pastor Andrew.
If you would like to dig deeper, ask us for our 40 day devotional on Job!

Its our FINAL video this week and man did we have fun! Check it out!