Eliphaz
Continues Speaking
Yesterday we saw
that Eliphaz was sent by the Lord to give a word very much in season to Job –
amen?! Today he continues talking and what he says makes nothing but perfect
sense. It is as if God Himself was speaking here. And we know that it was in
fact Him. Let’s first summarize what Eliphaz was telling his sorrowful friend.
He asked Job who he would turn to. Would there be a man or even angels who
could help him, really? Or what about foolish men? Surely they can’t help. After
all, look at what happens to them.
In reality the fact
is that man is born to trouble as certainly as the flames of a fire stretch
themselves toward the heavens. Even Jesus said it, so we know it is true…
John 16:33
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you
may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
So what is a man to
do in this case? Eliphaz gave the answer as it came straight from the heart of
God. Seek God! The only possible way a man can find his way out of trouble is
to seek the Lord while He may be found – hallelujah!
Isaiah 55:6
Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is
near.
He tells us in the
following verses (8-23) about the marvelous things that the Lord does.
Everything we need from rain and things we don’t even know to search for; yes,
blessings without number. Glory to God! That sounds like a pretty good deal
doesn’t it? After all, if I am born into trouble, why wouldn’t I want to seek
something or someone who can bring me up out of that trouble? Wouldn’t any
sensible person think this way? But not all do, do they? There are many hard
hearted and foolish people in the earth who want nothing to do with God. They
are indeed the foolish ones and we already looked at what happens to them in
this chapter, haven’t we?
But God takes those
who are low and sets them on high. Saints, I know this from experience. How you
ask? Look at my testimony these past two days. I was as low as a person could
get. One breath or two from passing away, there was just nothing left for me. I
lost all my relationships, my belongings and my reputation. I lost hope and
despaired of living. I thought death was the only option. And I wasn’t just
trying to get someone’s attention when I attempted that suicide. I fully
expected to die and didn’t want to face anyone in this life ever again. I had
certainly taken enough pills to do the job but God would not allow it! I was so
ashamed of myself. That was low friends; really low.
But wait. This
chapter says to seek the Lord while He may be found. Well when He wouldn’t even
let me die I was left with one of two choices. I could continue to run away from
Him and try to do life my way; or, I could seek after Him with everything in me
and find out what He really had to offer. I chose to seek Him – hallelujah! I
was poor (spiritually) and I was weak (emotionally); at the bottom of the
wrung. When I decided to seek Him I started going to church. No matter what
town I was in at the moment, I went to church. I would just find one near me
and go. I didn’t have a Bible at that time. But someone had given me a book
while I was homeless and I read it from cover to cover.
The title of that
book was ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren. As I read it I began to see
things about my life I had never even imagined. I began to understand that in
God’s eyes I really did have a purpose (in Him) that I never knew in all those
years of raising my daughters in church! I saw that God created me – He was the
one who actually put me together in my mama’s womb. Then I saw the fact that He
did it with a purpose in mind. This began to transform my thinking. I was
determined to know more about God now than ever. I had not known Him as much as
I used to think I did, but now my life was so desperate I thought it had to be
good to seek Him.
I knew I was a
simple minded woman. I was not wise and crafty in my own eyes. I used to think
I was quite unintelligent really. I couldn’t make quick comebacks to people’s
snide remarks or be quick to come up with a sick joke like others around me
could. I thought I was lacking in all kinds of areas and certainly didn’t
acclaim to know much. Well this chapter confirms what happens to those who do
(think they are ‘all that’) and it is not a good thing. So humility is always
the best place to start and there to remain. Exalting God and seeking Him is
the best place to be at every turn in life as I was soon to discover.
In our chapter
today Eliphaz said that the Lord saves the poor and gives the poor hope. I was
so poor in spirit. I was fatherless. My dad had abandoned all of us when my
parents divorced to marry another woman and raise her two boys. This left us
without the most important parental role that every child needs in their life.
A dad is supposed
to teach the child all the things about life and godliness so they can grow up
and make great decisions using wisdom and practical teaching from the Bible to
guide their path every step of the way. But that would not be the case for me
and my siblings. While dad chose to serve himself (Yes, I have forgiven him)
and leave us all behind, we had to go on in this crazy mixed up world and try
to figure out how to survive the best we could. Some of us did better than
others, but each of the five children in my family had a host of issues
stemming from the poor parenting examples we had been exposed to. Finding
myself back in the world after the hospital I had to take it one day at a time.
But I was so determined to find the Lord that this was what kept me going
forward even though the circumstances I was in were still very, very difficult.
I didn’t have any
money to speak of but I began to tithe. That had started one day when I saw the
700 Club on TV when I was homeless and staying in that motel room. I walked
across the street to give them the only $20 I had in my possession. It was
money that someone from the church had given me. Right after that the husband
had some fines to pay and we certainly couldn’t afford them but the Lord
provided every penny of it. I saw the miracle and I was quite amazed. I began
to see other miracles on my journey in my quest to find God. I would need a
ride and suddenly someone would show up and just be available at just the right
time.
When we talked
yesterday I told you about the great church I went to where I saw my sins as
they were and went home and repented.
From that time forward as I began to
understand how prayer works, I began to get bold and just ask God for what I
needed. And He would answer and provide what I had asked Him for. I continued
to be amazed at His wonderful kindness. It seems the miraculous signs and
wonders were all around me. I was convinced if I told anyone about the things
He was doing they would call me crazy. Well that’s OK. I know what I saw. I was
there. Nobody could ever tell me it was anything but the amazing power and grace
of God.
I found out in that
time period that seeking God was paying off. By the time I had surrendered to
Him in October of 2005, I had been seeking Him for about 11 months. So I didn’t
really find Him instantly. I actually had to show Him I was serious about finding
Him. And He saw my heart. He saw that even though I was in the toughest of
situations I had ever been in I wasn’t going to let that stop me from seeking
Him. I just kept tithing and I kept going to church.
I was like a
walking sponge. I had my ears open and my mouth shut as I watched, listened and
learned about the things of God. And the more I was experiencing with Him, the
more I saw Him doing miraculous things that could only be from Him, and the
more in awe of Him I became. So when October 1, 2005 rolled around and I
dropped to my knees to ask for His help, He quickly came to my rescue –
hallelujah!
Jeremiah 29:13
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you.
And as I did the
seeking I kept on receiving more and more revelation from Him. We all start
with a measure of faith…
Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given to me, to
everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
I had to use the
faith I had and build on that. I had to put my faith to work. One day of
seeking God and then going back to what you were doing before that will not cut
it. What I had been given was so good – I could see that. Now I wanted more.
When I got more I would respond to the Lord with a desire for even more…
Matthew 13:12
For whoever has, to him more will
be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken
away from him.
Like any good thing
a person might receive, if they discover it is really good they are going to
want more. Well, now I was getting more and more of God and the more I got the
more I wanted. It was a perpetual state of increase – abundance. It was and is
so rich and wonderful. I never want to stop experiencing more of Him, how about
you?
As I walked with
the Lord further into a life of full devotion I learned that He would chasten
me. Here is what the Webster’s 1828 dictionary says about chastening;
1. To correct by punishment; to punish; to inflict pain for the purpose of
reclaiming an offender; as, to chasten a son with a rod.
I will chasten him with the rod of men. 2 Samuel 7:14.
2. To
afflict by other means.
As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Revelation 3:19.
3. To
purify from errors or faults.
I
found out that the Lord will not hold back on correction when we need it. I
needed a lot of correction in my thinking and I needed to break off old habits
and relationships that were harmful to me. This has taken a lot of submission
and that has not been easy as most of you know all too well. But where would we
be without the loving care and correction of our Lord? So many folks in the
Christian world today say this quite often, “God loves us just the way we are.”
Says who? He loves us but He certainly does not like all our dysfunctional and
sinful behavior. That is why He provides both a rod and a staff to guide us
through our lives. We need His love and we need His correction so we won’t stay
the way we are…
Psalm
23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for You are with
me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
As we walk through this life with death all
around us and evil at every turn, we don’t ever have to be afraid. He is with
us. And His rod corrects us when we need it as His staff continually guides
through each day. Aren’t we so grateful saints? Our heavenly Father has so much
good in mind for us, but we have to want it. It is that simple. He will not
ever force His ways on us. We must seek Him willingly, diligently, as one going
after a pearl of greatest treasure…
Matthew 13:45
“Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had and bought it.
I was seeking the Lord so fervently, just as if I
was on the trail of some priceless gem and I wouldn’t stop until I found it. It
was the greatest treasure hunt of all, and lo, He led me each step. Can you
imagine how much it pleases the Father and Jesus to see someone going after Him
with their face set like flint? Do we not believe that He will give us the
desire of our heart?
Isaiah 50:7
“For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be
disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.
He is faithful. He
will not let the righteous be left begging. We never have to beg God. He will
reveal Himself to the ones who truly want Him. To those who don’t He is known
as the God who hides Himself.
Isaiah 8:17
And I will wait on the Lord, who
hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him.
To
the man or woman who says there is no God, He will be hidden from their sight.
He will not manifest His glory and throw that which is holy to the dogs. God will
only reveal Himself to those who are truly seeking Him. I would find this out
in that 11 month period of seeking Him. The more I received the hungrier for
Him I became. And He didn’t let me down. He never would either.
He
is faithful – hallelujah! I believe my heart’s greatest desire in this life
second to spending time with the Lord on a personal level is to encourage
others to seek Him. I know how awesome He is, at least from where I stand
today. I know that more will be revealed to me as I go deeper in my walk with
Him. And God is not slack on His promises. He will take us as deep as we are
willing to go. I want to be in over my head. How about you?
Next
in our chapter (Verse 19 – 22) we see the Lord as a Deliverer and a Provider.
Oh saints, He is truly everything we need in every situation. He delivers us
from trouble, from famine, from the battles we face when the arrows are flying
rapidly in our direction…
Psalm
91:5
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day,
He will hide us
from the harmful words that come against us. When I was walking out of that pit
I had thrown myself into, there were plenty of painful scourges coming my way. Lots
of folks had plenty of bad things to say about me. The dirt was flying at me
from a thousand different directions it seemed. But while I was down in the pit
and the accusers began throwing in their dirt, I decided to take Jesus hand and
let Him help me walk out of that pit.
Like the donkey who
had fallen into a pit so deep the people knew they couldn’t get him out, so
they decided to bury him alive and put him out of his misery. As they began to
shovel the dirt into the pit to close up the hole, the donkey would step up on the
next heap of dirt that landed at the bottom. With each painful shovelful of
dirt, the donkey continued to step on top of the pile. Eventually, he stepped
right up to the ground level and he walked away, a free donkey – hallelujah!
Friends, Jesus
cannot pull us out of the pit unless we want to come out. And it is up to us to
take the steps to get out of it. No matter why you landed in your pit, it has
to be your choice (and mine) to walk out of it. And when I decided that death
was obviously not an option for me, I made a decision to walk out of my pit.
And every step I took Jesus had my hand. He showed me so much love along the
way.
You can hear Him
saying, “That’s it. Come on honey. I am here. I will help you. Don’t stop. I
know it is rough. I never wanted this for you. But don’t give up. There will be
great reward for you if you do not faint. Keep going, yes, that’s it.” Just
yesterday the Lord showed me something about the cat Ezekiel that He had sent
for me while I was living in the marriage from hell. You remember I told you
how Ezekiel had been brought by my daughter. I told you about the painful scene
when I had to let him go. He had been so extra loving and special toward me.
I had never seen an
animal do the things he did. He would love on me and crawl up on my chest and
give me sweet kisses on my ear. His little hugs were almost human like.
And the
morning I was letting him go before coming to Florida, the look he gave and the
final hug seemed far beyond what any normal cat would do. Well, just yesterday
as my husband and I discussed this event, the Lord spoke to my heart and said,
“Hanny, when he was loving on you like that; it was Me. I was doing that
through him.” This caused me to cry even more as I looked back at how the Lord
had used this precious little fur ball to give me His love in a tangible way.
That was one of the rewards He had given me for seeking Him like I was. He is such
a good God – hallelujah!
As we move on in
the chapter, the Lord is showing us that He will cause us to live in peaceful
dwellings. He would cause us to live in harmony with the animals and people in
our midst. When I came to Florida, it was a completely different atmosphere
than the suburbs of Detroit where I had lived the majority of my life. Florida
was peaceful. It was almost too calm for this city girl with a country heart. I
had been used to life in the fast lane for so many years that it took several
years for me to come down to the new pace I would one day embrace with great
joy.
I never knew that
life could be this peaceful. The skies seemed bluer here. The gentle breezes
from the gulf combined with the breathtaking sunsets came together to form a
peaceful balm over my heart each day. People here walk slower and talk slower.
They are not in quite as big a hurry as they are up north. Now when I travel
back to Detroit to visit my children and grandchildren, the atmosphere and all
the chaos are almost overwhelming to me. I look forward to seeing them but I am
always so glad to get back to what is now my home; sunny and peaceful southwest
Florida – praise the Lord!
We end the chapter
with some more great promises from our great God. He promises us that our seed
will be great and will multiply. Well, I am not having any more kids, (LOL!) but
I am planting seeds into the kingdom of heaven on a regular basis – glory to His
name forever. As a result, I am expecting and receiving great multiplication of
that seed. I know my children and grandchildren will be blessed. In fact we are
so blessed that even the blessed call us blessed! Praise God! He is so good to
us when we seek Him with all our hearts. We are promised
that we will live to a ripe old age. Isn’t that great news? And we can bear
fruit like wildfire in our old age…
Psalm 92:12-15
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he
shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
I have to give God
the glory. At the age of 60 I have never been healthier, felt better or had
more energy! I can run around the lake with my sweet puppy and do what the Lord
calls me to do. I am excited about so many things that are coming – we stay in a
constant state of excitement and expectation for what the Lord is and will do.
Denny & I are rejoicing in God our Savior – me and my wonderful godly
husband whose sweetness cannot be compared to any other on the planet. The Lord
has blessed us and the bars of our gates. He has blessed our comings and
goings. He blesses me every step of the way. Yes, I have to brag on Him every
chance I get because He deserves all the glory, all the honor and all the
praise for ever. How about you? What are you excited about? As the chapter
closes, Eliphaz tells his friend Job that they had searched out these good
things about God. He was telling Job to hear it, know it and believe it for his
own good. Will you take that wonderful advice as well?
What was Eliphaz’s
first point of advice to Job?
What was the point
he was trying to make in the next several verses? (9-27)
What was Eliphaz’s last point of advice to Job?
Are you seeking God with all your heart? If not, what is stopping
you?
Luke 6:20-23
Then
He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
and when they exclude you,
and revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
and when they exclude you,
and revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
Matthew 7:11
If
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
There
are three main points to consider from today’s study…
Man is born to trouble – but Jesus has overcome the world
The best decision we can ever make is to seek God with all our heart
When we seek Him, we will find Him, and He will fill our lives with good
things
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for
revealing Yourself to those who seek after you with their whole heart! Thank
You for revealing Yourself in greater measure to me as I walk deeper and deeper
into a life of full devotion with You. Thank You for helping me to walk out of
every pit I have ever been in to a life full of prosperity and great fruit. You
are the Almighty God and You have done great things for me. Holy is Your name! Father,
I ask You to use my life as a living testimony of Your goodness to the sons of
men. Bring glory to Yourself in me each and every day and give me opportunities
to tell others how great You are in Jesus name. Amen!
Will you seek Him with your whole
heart?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
1
Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who
according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to
an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away,
reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
