Swift
to Hear – Slow to Speak – Slow to Wrath (Bildad’s comments)
Now it was Bildad’s
turn to comment on the situation – another friend and another point of view.
But were his words appropriate? That’s what we will discover as we dig into
this chapter. Assuming you have read it before beginning you know what he said.
He was basically asking Job how long he would go on like he was, full of ‘hot
air’ as the ERV says. Ouch! What a sting to receive in a time of great
difficulty. Yes, we know that by now months have gone by. We also know in
reality that by now Job needed to change his tune, from complaining and
bitterness to one of praising God and thanking Him for all the good He had done
in Job’s life, regardless of the current circumstances.
Bildad thinks he
needs to step in with his own thoughts on the matter. What we will discover is
that some of what he said was good advice, while other things he said would
have been better left unsaid. Some of what he told Job was just ‘preaching to
the choir’. Telling him that God was fair and all powerful would be nothing new
to Job. But here is where Bildad steps off the cliff of wisdom in the
situation; he tells Job that ‘if’ Job’s children had sinned, then God has dealt
with them accordingly. Would that hurt or what? Losing them was bad enough but
to have a so-called friend say this would really pour salt on an open and
gaping wound!
Maybe if Bildad
would have skipped these opening comments and gone in this direction; “Job, I
know you are hurting and I cannot possibly understand your pain or how you must
really feel, but I want to be here to help you any way I can.” Then he could
have continued like verse 5 said and advised Job of the only thing that would
make sense in a case like this – to seek God and pray to Him. This was good
advice. Maybe he could have said something like this to Job: “Hey Job, why
don’t we agree together in prayer for the Lord to come to you and provide the
answers you are looking for. Let’s go to Him in prayer and ask for His comfort,
His wisdom and His direction. Because you have been a man of God for such a
long time, you can go to Him and if you are sincerely seeking His wisdom in all
this, He will certainly hear you.”
Wouldn’t that be
better than going off and telling him about the ways of the wicked? It’s
certainly true what Bildad said to Job in verse 7 –
Though your beginning was small, yet your latter
end would increase abundantly.
The above statement
was a comforting promise about what God can do for one who seeks Him. And how
do I know this? Friends, as you have read my testimony during this study
(something I certainly had not planned for) you have seen that in my worst of
conditions, I learned something very powerful.
It was to seek God
and praise Him regardless of the situation I was currently in. I remember the
day the Lord showed me this verse as a promise to me. I opened my Bible to this
verse one day when I was living in my first apartment here in Florida. I saw
this and I knew He was telling me that this would be the case in my life. I was
here seeking Him and going after Him with all I had. Having just arrived here a
few months prior in 2007, I had my heart set on God. I had left Michigan behind
and all the pain and heartache that went with it. The hardest part was leaving
my daughters. But that is exactly what I needed to do. I would be no good to
them at all in the state I was in. I needed a total spiritual overhaul, one
that only the Lord could provide. He knew that He wanted to take me out of the
desert into the promised land, and I gotta tell you, southwest Florida is a
beautiful promised land for sure! Hallelujah!
When I saw this
verse come alive for me that day, I knew that the Lord was telling me that He
had some great big things in store for me. I just had to believe it and receive
it as my future hope. He was going to start changing me day by day, training
and equipping me for all that He had called me to do in this life. I had to
start from the ground up. Many things had to be torn down before the Lord could
start to build the new me. I had to learn how to be in communion with Him all
the time and make Him the center focal point, regardless of anything that I was
confronted with. Was it all easy after I arrived here in Florida? Absolutely
not.
I had family issues
here to deal with that were terribly hurtful. I was attacked at work as I
mentioned to you previously. I was lonely, and I missed my daughters. But they
had been my ‘gods’ along with food, so the Lord was taking my clenched fists
and slowly but surely He was helping me to open them up and let go of the things
I had held on to for comfort; both the kids and the food. While it hurt
terribly at times and I would cry so hard I thought people in the next county
could hear me, I knew I had to do it – just let go!
Giving my life completely
over to Christ has been a continual day by day surrender, as it is for anyone
who is serious about becoming a true disciple of the Master. Lots of
correction, and lots of alone time with Him would be necessary to recreate what
God had intended Hanny to be. He became my refuge and my sanctuary from the
storms of life. I saw Him bring me so many things like friends, clothes, food,
flowers, car repairs that cost hundreds of dollars from anonymous sources, free
entertainment at concerts, you name it; if it was good, it was God lavishing
His splendid love upon me. Glory to His name forever!
As I continued to
walk out of my pit with Jesus holding my hand every step of the way, I was
receiving blessings coming from every direction. He was bringing people into my
life who would be there and bless me for a season, while others He brought
would be lasting friendships. He would have people say just the right thing at
just the right time – exactly what I needed to hear when I needed to hear it.
This is where Bildad
may have gone wrong. He could have spoken the positive and uplifting words that
are documented in this chapter, without mentioning the biting words of God’s
treatment of Job’s children and what He does to the wicked.
The correction
isn’t really ours to perform in others’ lives, unless the Lord specifically
asks us to say what He wants said to a person, then and only then should
correcting words come from our lips. I had plenty of correction coming from the
lady who became my spiritual counselor. She was a tremendous blessing. She knew
the Bible well and when I would discuss what was concerning me, she would
lovingly but firmly guide me to what God has to say about it. Then my thinking
could be transformed and renewed. My mind could be washed by the water of the
word of God…
Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you
may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
When she would
point me to what God says about a matter, she was giving me wise counsel. It
would be ‘spot on’, showing me exactly how to adjust my attitude to line up
with His word. As I continued to go to work, and church and other church types
of meetings and gatherings, I began to see things more clearly. The fog began
to lift a little at a time. The more time I spent with the Lord in His word,
the more I learned to trust in what He was saying to me, the higher up I came. As
the fog in my brain cleared I could see life in ways I never had before. I had
a lifetime of improper thinking since I had never been trained in the Bible or
in the things of God.
While I was saved
at 9 years old with grandma here in Florida, I never grew in my faith and walk
with God because I was living in such a mess with nobody to show me the right
way. I didn’t even like to ‘think’ – it was too painful. I literally trained
myself not to think about any of the bad stuff that had happened to me in the
past. That’s why sex, drugs and rock-n-roll became so much a part of my life
for several years. I went where ‘the action’ was, or so I thought, and it was
loud enough to drown out the voice of reason that wanted so much to speak to me
the words of life. How could I ever hear the words of Holy Spirit in the midst
of all the noise and chaos? And as a result, the thing I had needed to the most
is what I worked the hardest at running from – God and His word.
The Bible tells us
the following advice for daily living, and it is the focus of our chapter
today…
James 1:19
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to
hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
If Bildad had been
slow to speak – to Job, and quick to listen, and slow to wrath (anger,
indignation, exasperation) then perhaps his words would have been seasoned with
salt - something that could bring good
flavor to the situation…
Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought
to answer each one.
By watching our
mouth and waiting on the Lord, we can know the right word to speak to one who
is weary…
Isaiah 50:4
“The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the
learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him
who is weary. He awakens Me morning by
morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned.
Knowing what to say
and when to say it can only come with the help of the Holy Spirit. But how many
times do we just spout off with a comment from our flesh and do more harm than
good? How many times do we talk just to draw attention to ourselves, seeking
our own glory rather than the Lord’s? I have been guilty more than I care to
admit, and learning this principle has been hard in coming. As a young girl and
even a young adult, I was really a sociable person, yet in many ways I was
quiet and reserved. I always had a quiet side to me.
I could always
socialize pretty well with people when the circumstances were right, but I always
liked to be quiet. I enjoyed being alone and was always comfortable with just
me – glory to God for that! I am grateful because the older I get, the more I
am learning that I really need to withdraw from telling others about what I
know, or talk about myself – drawing attention to me rather than exalting God
and seeking His glory.
Have you ever
noticed that when you talk with people they want to talk about themselves? If
you allow them to they will go on and on about themselves; what they think,
what they feel, what they have done or accomplished, yada, yada, yada. It
becomes useless chatter. But the Lord wants us to be slow to speak as we see in
the scriptures. He wants us to be able to give godly counsel as He directs us.
And when we do it will always be the right word at the right time. What if we
did this; when people say, “How are you?” we reply by saying, “Blessed to see
you!” with all sincerity. If we did that we would notice that they would keep
the attention on themselves and away from us. We really only need to ask
effective questions of people that are appropriate for the situation and be
good listeners.
Here is what the
Bible says about listening and attaining wise counsel…
Proverbs 1:5
A wise man will
hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right
in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.
Proverbs 19:20
Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may
be wise in your latter
days.
Bildad mentioned in
our chapter that Job should heed the voice of their elders – those who were
older than they and certainly wiser. And that is not bad advice on its own. But
it may have been the wrong time to say it. We can learn a lot from people who
have gone before us – that is, if we will listen. But too many times we are too
busy thinking about what we want to say next, and we are not really listening
to the person talking to us. We could all learn a thing or two about proper
communication with others, amen?
Being a good
listener is a precious commodity in these days and times. So often we are
‘multi-tasking’ and trying to do many things at once. While someone is talking
we are thinking about what our opinion is and what we want to say, or we are
thinking about the many tasks that we still need to do that day, thereby
missing what the person speaking to us was really saying. I once heard that
multi-tasking is sloppy-tasking and it couldn’t be truer. We need to be in the
moment – 100% there, whatever we are doing. We need to focus, and be slow to
pipe in with our comments, suggestions and opinions. Here’s some more advice on
these matters from God’s word…
Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my
lips.
Proverbs
10:19
In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who
restrains his lips is wise.
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of
my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
The more we ‘chit
chat’, the greater the chance that we are falling into sin. How so, you ask? We
can get into pride, and boasting and this is what the Bible says about that…
James 4:13-16
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go
to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a
profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little
time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this
or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
When we get into
saying things like, “I’m going to do this…I think this about that…I want to go
here and do that…” all these things are assumptions and it is pride which is of
the devil.
And we don’t want
to display any characteristics of the devil in our lives, do we? Certainly not!
J What Bildad said to Job that day was presumptuous about what
God had done to Job’s kids. What did he know about the situation? Even less
than Job knew which was also nothing at that point. So the best policy would be
to ‘zip it’, right?
Friends, it is so
amazing what the Lord does each day as we study His word. I never know for sure
where we are going to go with this, so I take a step of faith by sticking my
fingertips into the water of His word, and suddenly He parts the Red Sea of
confusion and makes His message clear for this day. Isn’t He wonderful in what
He teaches us? Whether we need comfort, love, affection or correction, the Lord
has it all planned out to give us just what we need when we need it, amen! And
as His precious children the only correct response should be, “Thank You Sir!”
Questions:
What was wrong with
the things that Bildad said to Job?
What was good about
what he said?
What does the Bible tell us about talking too much?
How can you apply this lesson to your life personally today? What
is God showing you?
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.
There
are three main points to consider from today’s study…
The time to speak must be led by Holy Spirit
Sometimes saying nothing is much wiser than uttering foolish words
Good and positive words will bring comfort and be uplifting to others
Heavenly
Father,
Thank
You for Your word that teaches me how to keep silent, how to listen and when I
should speak. Father, I ask You to forgive me for any time I have gotten into
pride or boasting about myself and my plans rather than being led by Your
Spirit in every situation. Help me to remember that You always know how to lead
me in what I should say if I take the time to wait on You and listen. Lord, I
believe that is why You gave me two ears and only one mouth. I need to listen
more and speak less. Thank You for correcting me and showing me any area that
needs improvement, in Jesus name! Amen!
Are you doing more
listening than speaking?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Ecclesiastes 3:1,7b
To
everything there
is a season,
a time for every purpose under heaven
a time for every purpose under heaven
A
time to keep silence, and a time to speak
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