Bible Reading: Job 17,18 &19; Acts 10:1-24
“All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me” Job 19:19(KJV).
Truly, affliction time is a test of true friendship. It is when you are passing through hard times that you will know those who are your true friends and those who really love you. It is not all that glitters that are gold. Not everybody dinning and wining with you in the time of plenty are your friends. Wives have been known to have left their husband’s house because they lost their job or they are passing through hard times like Job’s wife did. This happens even among believers. It can be very devastating when those you call friends detest you and even very close relatives abhor your presence. Success and wealth attracts all shades of people such as sycophants, deceivers, lustful, greedy, praise singers, backstabbers etc., etc. When the going is good people crowd around you such that you may not be able to separate white from black, but in the time of afflictions you will know your true friends. This attitude is predominant among pastors even in the church. When a brother is well to do, he becomes prominent among the pastors but when such brother suffers financial mishap he is discarded like a pack without value. We have instances of people who had such experiences in the hands of pastors, even in the body of Christ. When you come to such an ugly situation in life you turn to God totally like Job in acknowledging the place of God in your life. “For I know that my redeemer and vindicator lives and at last He (the last one) will stand upon the earth” Job 19:25(Amplified).
The span of the period of your affliction is stretched within God’s eternity as being the First and the Last. God will continue to exist in your affliction and after your affliction, so He has all that it takes to bring you out of affliction. God can use the period of affliction to show you your true friends so that when your elevation comes you are not deceived. Most times in times of abundance, you disregard your true friends for miscreants and sycophants due to poor insight and spiritual insensitivity. True friends will stand by you in time of crisis, they will seek for solution to your problem. Your affliction will touch them most. They will be there always to console you. Most people had been brought down by their so called friends. Job’s story is not just for reading but for our learning. As believers we need to seek divine guidance even in our relationships. This is more important when choosing a marriage partner. Beauty is deceptive, let your choice be the adorning of the heart. Your friends can make or mar you, so seek guidance from the all-knowing God. Among the twelve disciples was Judas, the betrayer. When we find ourselves in the position of Job, when friends despise you and treat you with scorn, our only best option is to take refuge in God.
My dear reader, I wish to introduce you to someone who will always be there for you, a friend I found so trustworthy. His name is Jesus Christ. There is no other friend like Jesus. If He could love to the extent of paying the price of death for your sin, what else will He not do for you. His arms are wide open to receive you today. Come to Him and find solace.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the book of Job which You have given us for our learning.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo