Day 81 – Answers

Job 16:1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “I have heard many such things; you are miserable comforters! 3 Will words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you to answer? 4 I also could speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you; 5 but I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.

 6 “Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; and if I remain silent, how am I eased? 7 However, now He has worn me out; You made desolate my company. 8 You shriveled me up, and it is a witness against me; my leanness rises against me and bears witness to my face. 9 He tears me in His wrath and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; my adversary sharpens His gaze on me. 10 They gape at me with their mouth, they strike me reproachfully on the cheek, they gather against me. 11 Elohiym has delivered me to the ungodly and turned me over to the hands of the wicked. 12 I was at ease, but He shattered me; He also took me by my neck and shook me to pieces; He set me up for His target, 13 His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. 14 He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior.

 15 “I have sewn sackcloth over my skin and laid my head in the dust. 16 My face is flushed from weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; 17 although no violence is in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

 18 “O earth do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no resting place! 19 Even now my witness is in heaven, and my evidence is on high. 20 My friends scorn me; my eyes pour out tears to Elohiym. 21 Oh, that one might plead for a man with Elohiym, as a man pleads for his neighbor! 22 For when a few years are finished, I will go the way of no return.

 17:1 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me. 2 Are not mockers with me? Does not my eye dwell on their provocation?

 3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who will shake hands with me? 4 For You have hidden their heart from understanding; therefore, You will not exalt them. 5 He who speaks flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children will fail.

 6 “But He has made me a byword of the people, and I have become one in whose face men spit. 7 My eyes have also grown dim because of sorrow, and my members are like shadows. 8 Upright men are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself against the hypocrite. 9 Yet the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

 10 “However, please, come back again, every one of you, for I will not find one wise man among you. 11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart. 12 They change the night into day; ‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness. 13 If I wait for the grave as my house, if I make my bed in the darkness, 14 if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’ 15 where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it? 16 Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we have a rest together in the dust?”

God’s names:

Elohiym – Supreme God

Yeshuwa – Jesus

God’s character:

Righteous

People bring guilt and accusations against you when they should comfort you. When do you say enough is enough? When do you turn to someone who can help?

Job’s friends have done nothing to relieve him in his time of trouble. Instead, they bring guilt and accusations against him until he turns against them and cries out to Elohiym for answers and relief from the physical trouble he faces.

How many times as Christians, do you see someone enter your church who has seen nothing but trouble and you start to walk away from them. You see them as someone who asks for help but doesn’t do anything for themselves. Or how often have you been in trouble and the help you get is more an accusation than help? You call those situations the trials of Job. Instead of helping, you walk away or heap more accusations on the person.

Job turned to Elohiym for answers. He had enough of the words from his friends who did nothing but accuse him of unconfessed sin. He looked forward to the grave because his physical condition grew worse instead of better.

There comes a time when the only thing you can do is walk away from your friends and seek answers from the only person who can help you, Yeshuwa. It’s not that you haven’t sought answers from Him, but those who believe they know the answers come against you with unwanted accusations. Enough is enough. You need to get away from your friends and get alone with Elohiym. Seek His counsel. You alone know the truth of your situation. He alone can help you. No one else. When you do, you will find a listening ear and the answers you’re looking for.

Don’t let Satan have the upper hand in a situation he caused. Come against him and let him know you trust in Yeshuwa to bring you through whatever he brought against you. Remind him that the battle belongs to Yeshuwa, and he won’t win. No matter what he does or tries to do, you’re standing on Yeshuwa’s Word not on the accusations of your friends.

Let’s pray: Father, You alone know the trouble I face and who brought the trouble. Help me stand against Satan and trust You to bring me through, knowing the battle belongs to You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Copyright © 9 April 2025 by Valerie Routhieaux