06.30.2014 Old Testament: Job 19.13–19

To read the Bible in a year, read Job 19–20 on June 30, In the year of our Lord 2014

By Don Ruhl

Have you experienced times when everyone set their faces against you? You can read Job 19 and know that someone else has had a similar experience,

“He has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
My relatives have failed,
And my close friends have forgotten me.
Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants,
Count me as a stranger;
I am an alien in their sight.
I call my servant, but he gives no answer;
I beg him with my mouth.
My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.
Even young children despise me;
I arise, and they speak against me.
All my close friends abhor me,
And those whom I love have turned against me.”
(Job 19.13–19) 

Siblings, acquaintances, relatives, close friends, immediate family, hired workers, a spouse, and the young children of the neighborhood turned against Job. How did he deal with such rejection?

How have you dealt with it? Do you know what the Lord wants you to do? Job spoke to his friends and to God about it. Job’s friends did not listen, but God did. Remember that the next time you experience rejection.