You Have Strengthened
The Weak Hands
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended? But who can keep from
speaking? See, you have instructed many; you have strengthened the weak hands.
Your words have supported those who were stumbling, and you have made firm the
feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches
you, and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
“Think now, who that was innocent ever
perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow
iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and
by the blast of his anger they are consumed. The roar of the lion, the voice of
the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken. The strong lion
perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
People who are hurting have a common
need: the comfort that comes from trusting God. They need to be assured that
tragedy and grief are not a mark of God’s disfavor but that He weeps with them,
He loves them, and He will never leave those who are His.
In the midst of a host of hurting
people, each one of us can reach out to become a comforter like Job. Ask God to
make your heart tender enough to support and strengthen those who are hurting.
God doesn’t
comfort us to be comfortable,
but to make us
comforters.
Our Daily
Bread –