Job chapter 4 verses 2-4 (NIV)
“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?
Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.
Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
Job’s friend Eliphaz certainly didn’t practice what he was attempting to preach to Job. He was desperate to put his point of view across, instead of holding his peace. The Bible certainly tells us there’s a time to speak but it also tells us there’s a time to be silent.
Eliphaz does however give an account of how Job had instructed, supported and encouraged others – in a mixture of words but also in actions. He did not simply talk the talk, like his friends, he lived it out too.
We also need to act with discernment and know when to speak and when to stay quiet, but also not to neglect living out our testimony and our faith – just like Job.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the evidence of Job’s testimony, even in the midst of unimaginable trials. Help me to follow his example. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.