Key Scripture: Job 42:10-11

And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

Relevance

Rejection is a brutal way to find out something. Whether you were a 'different' kid in school, had to sit through a bad interview for a job, endured a broken marriage, or even got knocked back on a genuine insurance claim, rejection is a bitter pill to swallow, and we've all swallowed it!

Our patient friend Job is no exception. I don't think we appreciate exactly who despised and discarded Job until we arrive at our key verse, near the end of his story. The narrative's focus is on the three 'friends' who came to counsel him for his (so-called) sin, which was their analysis of God's wrath upon his life. Yet, they had, in fact, rejected him.

But at least he had family, right? No. When Job's prosperity fell like dominoes, everyone left him. 

His bemoaning throughout the book was not unfounded. Job's brothers and sisters joined the multitude, even those whom he had helped, even saved from destruction, in removing themselves far from his presence, as if they too would catch the disease and poverty God gave Job. 

Only when God restored Job's glory did they return. They resumed their relationship with him only when it was safe. Do you behave like that with some people?

Is that what Jesus asks of us today? Jesus asks us to visit people IN their sickness or WHILE they are in prison. Not when it is safe—when they are healed or out of prison. We may foresee considerable risk to ourselves when obeying that commandment, but does that mean we don't follow it? 

Christians must watch their hearts when people fall. Pharisaical judgment is a condition attributed to all people. Christian or not, we all seem to get a dose of it at some stage. It's a case of us judging others' faults, as if we're someone more important to God without our own faults to deal with. 

Pharisaical judgment lies just around the corner, ready for Satan to sow the seed. Don't forget Eve. All Satan did was whisper a couple of suggestions to sow the seed. Eve's eyes were suddenly opened to a harsher way of judging God's Word. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman SAW that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3.

Similar to Eve, we end up seeing things through judgmental eyes if we have been deceived. We've dismissed Christ!

God changed Job. The new beauty and grace of God were now within him. When Job's family returned to him, he showed no bitterness or partiality. Not because of the renewed lifestyle God established, but the renewed life. Not because of the golden earrings, but the gold God had inserted in his heart. Job had finally realised God's grace upon his life and demonstrated that grace to others. 

This story is for today's Christians. We are saved only by the grace of someone else—God through Jesus Christ. Yet we can view others who fall just as judgmentally as Job's three friends and his brothers and sisters did to him, treating him as if he were a biblical leper.

Jesus Christ didn't die for that!  He died so we could pass on the grace and mercy we have experienced to the people who need it most, not just the people we prefer. James 3:17 reminds us that the new wisdom we obtain through Christ is pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, FULL of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. What graceful hearts we get when we give over to the Holy Spirit to do what He does best—create inestimable beauty out of our chaos.

Job got kicked when he was down. Jesus doesn't kick us when we're down. That stuff is just in our minds due to guilt. Sure, He likes us upright and robust, but also knows we can fall on hard times. Hence the song, "I am weak, but thou art strong."

It's a Jesus-quality to overlook what's on the surface and see what people are facing underneath. Most human beings across the board are battling something. When we are privileged to hear their stories, we find our prayer and help replace our judgment. 

Likewise, when any of us falls on hard times, the last thing we need is another judgmental person on the phone or in our ear. Judgment comes in many forms, such as constructive criticism. We need neither rejection nor experts.

We yearn for the Christlike heart that brings grace, because in grace, we repair!

Prayer

Dear Lord, Job is the perfect example of facing rejection in faith. Please help us overcome all feelings like that with the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Photo by Nick Fewings