Week 3 - Day 5

Preparing for Discussion, Part 1

As you read through Job 5, do you get the idea that Job feels completely trapped? To him, it's as though the armies of the Lord Himself have surrounded him and are pressing in! Do you ever feel this way? (Silly question, I know!) What does Scripture tell us about those feelings? (see 1 Corinthians 10:13) When Scripture says the opposite of what you feel, what will you believe? Here's a challenge - Read Psalm 18 and discover the incredibly passionate way God goes about rescuing His people!

Job's friends aren't helpful at all. They claim Job is terribly wicked and that God will not hear and will not rescue him because of this. Check out Psalm 73. How does this counter their claims?

In difficulty, you have a choice to make - you can whine and complain and demand answers, or you can choose to trust God. Nancy Guthrie writes, "Trusting God when the miracle does not come, when the urgent prayer gets no answer, when there is only darkness - this is the kind of faith God values perhaps most of all. This is the kind of faith that can be developed and displayed only in the midst of difficult circumstances. This is the kind of faith that cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken." (pg. 54) It's the kind of faith that comes from being shaken and yet holds onto our Living Hope!

Job said it well, "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, ye in my body I will see God! I will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!" (Job 19:25-27) 2 Corinthians 4:16 reminds us that this is why we NEVER give up!

In another respect, we are challenged as question 6 asks us to outline Job's complaints about his friends. Did doing so help you to see how you could be a better comforter to a suffering friend? In what way?