Sometimes you just need to vent

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Renewed hope”

Our Bible verse for today: “Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?” Job 4:6 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “Sometimes you just need to vent”

So, doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope? Well, yes. Yes, it does. But wait. Why were those questions asked to begin with? What was the context?

In the case of Job 4:6 those questions were posed by Job’s “friend” Eliphaz and they were not meant as a compliment, nor where they meant to encourage or help Job. Instead, he said them as an indictment. If you are familiar with Job’s story then you know that as chapter four opens, Job had suffered incredible losses. His ten children had all been killed, almost all his wealth had been stolen, and he was suffering terrible illnesses. Through it all he never lost his faith or trust in God and he never cursed God despite his great suffering.

But in chapter three he did give voice to his sorrow, to his frustrations, and to his tremendous grief. That is what Eliphaz was responding to with those questions. It was essentially the Old Testament version of “Job, don’t you love Jesus?” It was unkind and insensitive of Eliphaz to suggest that because Job was giving voice to his suffering, he must be spiritually weak. It was also ignorant. It showed that Eliphaz didn’t understand the true nature of suffering.

When bad things have happened, when we have lost hope and are struggling to find renewed hope, it is helpful to be able to talk about how we feel. Even if that amounts to crying and complaining and asking “why?” We also need to be around safe people who will listen without judging. If you read the early chapters of Job, you will find that when Eliphaz and his two friends heard about the tragedy that had struck Job, they immediately went to sit with him and mourn with him. They did so in silence, and that was exactly the right thing to do. Job just needed to vent and he needed a sympathetic friend to listen and not judge.

As we will read in tomorrow’s devotional, venting like Job did can be the beginning of finding renewed hope. Sometimes we just need a safe place to vent and safe people to listen.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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