Job 18 and 19 contain the exchange between Bildad, one of the three friends, and Job.  Bildad’s approach has moved to straight accusation and then defensiveness.  Basically the message is – you get what you deserve Job.  Bad people get bad results.  And when they do they think the world and God is against them.  Bildad has moved away from trying to comfort and help Job to just beating on him.  As he says it: “We need to get down to business”.  Enough of the nice talk and trying to make you feel better.  Now it is time to just blast you with a megaphone of truth.  He asks Job “Do you want the world redesigned to suit you? Should reality be suspended to accommodate you?”  Sometimes that is what we want.  God, just stop what you are doing and change the rules for me.  It doesn’t work like that, but sometimes that is how we want the story to go.  Bildad has lost his effectiveness as it really is no longer about Job but rather it is about him giving Job a piece of his mind.

Job responds as one would expect.  “How long are you going to keep battering away at me…..time after time you jump all over me”.  Sometimes I think people are better off dealing with lifes struggles on their own.  At least then they aren’t beat over the head when they really need to be lifted up.  I am sure you have heard the statement that “the church is the only place in the world where they shoot the weak and hurting”.  What a trajedy that truth is.  Rather than surrounding those who need God’s love most with support and help, we often respond like Job experienced.  “Everyone who knows me avoids me. My relatives and friends have all left; houseguests forget I ever existed”.  Do you see that happen in your church?  If not, you probably aren’t looking.  We tend to struggle with knowing how to help so we just run and avoid it completely.  Or we push people away that don’t fit the norm for our body of believers.  That is so very wrong compared to God;s design.  Job really was being shunned: “Even street urchins despise me; when I come out, they taunt and jeer”.  That may seem like a bit of an exaggeration, which it probably is, but when someone is in the pit of despair they need people to reach out and love them, acknowledge their situation, and not shun or push them away which is often what happens.  Bildad is trying the tough love approach here but it goes way past that to the point of just driving Job further into despair.  We need to be there reminding people what Job comes to himself: “Still, I know that God lives”.  We need to proclaim that message.  We need to share that truth.  We need to be living life that way so we lift up rather than tear down and destroy.  What are your words and actions saying when you have a chance to help someone who is struggling with life?  Are you an encourager?