I/we have had quite a week. It started off fine but then we hit Job in our morning devotions. If you have read Job you know how hard it is to understand. Then God decided a lesson was in store for me, the less than empathic me. So He used a situation, a not so fun situation to teach me about sympathy and empathy. I am still in the re-learn stage. I should have learned long ago but like the Israelites of long ago, I had to do another lap around the wilderness, may this be my last. Hopefully, I will learn the tricks of the trade through the characters in Job. For example, if you want to learn how to handle stress take the example of Bildad and Job’s conversations

In chapter 8, the impertinence of Bildad is a quick reminder of our own impatience when we are frustrated. We take our cues from another’s words. Bildad seems to think that Job is his own worst enemy and he needs to come to terms that all of this is because of the sin he and his families have experienced. Nowhere do we see Bildad crying out to God for answers and a sympathetic heart. There is a lesson there for you and I. When another is in deep distress we need to be patient, listen more than speak and quietly sit and talk to God. We need to ask God for eyes to see, ears to hear but mostly a heart to understand.

Now as to Job, he is so frustrated! He cannot fathom why this is all happening. Like us when disaster happens we ask “why.” So we can relate to Job in this instance. We too want answers. Sometimes heaven is quiet and we wish God would just open the windows of heaven and explain to us the answer but He is sternly quiet. The reality is this: we may never know until eternity the why.

So I posed a question to myself;  What if I was just quiet and waited on the Holy Spirit to speak? Might I learn something of value as to how I am to respond and act towards another who is in distress?

What about you?