No More Cut and Paste

The problem with some advice is that it sounds good at the time, maybe even true at that time but it's far to simple and off base in the end. This is the frustration we have exploring the advice Job's friends give him. And we are only into the first speech given by Eliphaz in Job 5. Now he says some true things here:

Job 5:17–18 (ESV) “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. 18 For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.

All true and several other scriptures back this up. Now Eliphaz assumes that the bad in Job's life is from the Almighty (a key name for God in the book of Job). But there's something we've already seen that the characters have not. Job's suffering is not from God but from the devil. And one of life's worst mistakes is to attribute to God what the devil does and even worse - attribute to the devil what God does. 

It's the mistake of absolutism when it comes to our lived experience. What I mean is you compartmentalize all that is good and bad in total absolutes. All that is bad is God's discipline. All that is good is God's favor. Let us remember the time Israel asked for a king and got one - from God - and what they perceived as an immediate good was actually one of the worst things that came upon them - the reign of King Saul. 

The book of Job is asking us to dig deeper into these areas. To stop living as if everything we experience is black and white. Life is complicated and there is a spiritual realm that we do not see. I'll give you an example from Paul's own life.

On his attempt to get to a city with the Gospel:

Acts 16:6–7 (ESV) And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Paul wanted to do what was good and right and COMMANDED by Jesus - go to the nations with the Gospel. But here the Spirit does not allow it. Why is that? Does God not want them saved? Is Paul in the wrong? No. But there's a spiritual nature at work Paul does not see and the timing is not right. 

Later, Paul realized why Jesus said no when he came to Ephesus and the whole city rioted in response to the Gospel making inroads into their community and economy. He wrote to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 16:8–9 (ESV) But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

So at one moment the door was open physically but not allowed by God spiritually. Later, the door was opened by God but the enemy was resisting him spiritually. 

The point is we have to stop making absolutes about suffering, trouble, and open doors. What is the answer in all these things? To please the Lord. To worship Him as Job did through the trouble. Eliphaz has cut and paste answers to the spiritual experience but they aren't fit for Job's trial. Cut and paste is great for kindergarten classes but it doesn't work in the life of faith.