Job 4-5Eliphaz accuses Job of being impatient and dismayed. The world that Eliphaz knows about is one in which everything happens according to set rules. He cannot imagine a scenario in which a person who is truly righteous is allowed to suffer as Job has. He therefore concludes that Job has committed some secret sin, and failed God in some way. He urges Job to seek his answer in God, and not to insist on his own righteousness. Ordinarily, that argument makes sense: none of us are perfect, and suffering is often the consequence of our own mistakes. But here, it is Eliphaz who is dismayed. It is Eliphaz who has not been patient enough to find the real answer. It is right to direct our suffering friends to God. But sometimes their suffering will not be because they need to be reconciled to him. Sometimes they just need his restoring touch.
LORD, may we not be so quick to condemn those who are unfortunate. May we see them through your eyes of grace, and bring them to you in love.
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