Job 13:21
“Remove Your hand from me, And may the dread of You not terrify me.”
Job is being honest with them. I’ve seen his comments towards them, but I haven’t seen this honest view. They are in his space and they are terrorizing him. They came to help him, but things changed. They are certain that he has transgressed against God and they are seeking to convince him.
We will see that God is angry with them and that they were wrong. Job also sees them as wrong. They can’t see that.
It’ll be interesting to see if Job’s vulnerable comment makes them back off. I don’t think so. We’ve got many chapters ahead of us.
Instead of comforting him, they are terrifying him. That’s not what friends are supposed to do. The most important job a friend has is to listen. They had long since abandoned that.
We should be able to be honest with our friends. A true friend will correct his behavior. I would be shocked if a friend said I terrified him.
In my twenties I had some good friends who helped me speak my mind. Prior to that I didn’t bring up matters that troubled me. I then learned how to couch those comments. Rarely is it easy, but if the friendship is to mend it’s important.
Proverbs 17:27 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” As friends encounter trouble, they should seek to mend it. I have had friends in whom we could fix things. I’ve had some that didn’t work out. The lack of honesty was the problem. We had to separate and move on. It was tough. The Holy Spirit interrupted things. His mercy took over.
God uses friendships to grow us. We are tools in one another’s lives. I Peter 2:5 says, “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”. Look at the unity. We are all bound together to make a temple for God.
Lord, thank You for friendships. You teach us through good relationships and ones not so good. You are Lord of all.