Miserable comfort

"Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. - Job 5v17

A few years ago we had a situation arise that was a real blow to us and the ministry here. We had some really devastating news that seemed to wipe out the work that God had allowed us to begin here.

At the same time we had visitors staying with us. They were hardly even acquaintances, just someone visiting the country and staying with us.

When we heard this crushing news the wife had a question – ‘Is their sin in your life that you need to deal with?’

I have to say that this is not what I wanted or needed to hear at the moment. It might have been a fair question and something to consider, but it seems to presume on God and know what He is doing.

Job had his own visitors, one of whom was called Eliphaz. When he saw what Job was going through he figured that Job must have done something wrong in order to be ‘punished’ in such a way.

This reminds me of people who try to figure out the mind of God every time something bad happens to a person or a group of people. When earthquakes, storms, or other disasters happen they try to figure out why God is judging them. When someone gets sick or has a setback they figure that there must be some sin that God is dealing with.

The problem is that Eliphaz was wrong. We cannot decide what God is doing or why He is doing it when things go wrong. While there may be sin in the life of the person we are not the ones to try and judge them.

If we see sin the life of a friend then we need to deal with it. If we are just guessing then we need to just keep our mouths shut and let God deal with it.