Job 18

Daily Devotional from Job 18--

Verses 1-4
“Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: ‘How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak. Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight? You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?’”

Job is a broken and burdened man. Bilhab is trying to convince Job that he has an unclean heart and that he is living in sin. In other words, he is saying to Job, when will you stop talking and start listening to us? When are you going to stop trying to justify yourself and start believing that you are a man filled with sin? He charges Job that his real problem is that Job has refused to recognize what his real problem is.

But what if Bildad is wrong? What if he has misjudged or misunderstood Job’s real situation? That can so easily happen when we rely on our own opinion or don’t ask God first about how we can encourage or help a friend in need.

Bildad teaches us to understand how important it is to encourage and strengthen each other. He reminds us how much we need to build each other up in the Lord. Can we take a moment in time to encourage someone and build them up in the Lord, or perhaps extend an unexpected kindness to someone? It’s a good practice to develop.

Marci Ellis