The People in Your Life Job 42:10-11 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
In Job 42:10-11, we find four groups of people in your life about whom we will preach today: your friends, family, familiars and foes.
Friends – Job 42:10 – “friends” – these are the ones who are as close to you as family or even closer [Prov 18:24 there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother] – no matter what, they are there for you – they stick with you through the good times and the bad times – these men with Job are often criticized but they were there for him through the whole ordeal and in spite of their error Job prayed for his FRIENDS
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly so cultivate some friendships – this takes years – make some friends to keep and keep the friends you make – consider David and Jonathan – you can be yourself with your friends and they should be able to be themselves with you – faithful are the wounds of a friend.
The greatest friend of all is Jesus Christ – Jesus’s closest disciples were Peter, James and John – it’s appropriate to have some friends closer to you than others – these guys had their faults and Jesus loved them – receive Jesus today and get to know the best friend of all.
Family – Job 42:11 – “brethren” and “sisters” – a friend loveth at all times and brother is born for adversity – in other words you should be able to count on your brother when you can’t count on anyone else – it’s supposed to be that way, although Job’s friends rather than his family were the ones who stayed with him through his trial.
Don’t be surprised if your family is against you; they were against Jesus – Jesus’ brethren didn’t follow him at first – as Jesus said, a man’s foes shall be they of his own household – there is a whole family dynamic that can shape your life – just remember that family is family and everyone else is not – so you are not “locked in” to your family personality when dealing with others.
Familiars – Job 42:11 – “his acquaintance” – these are the folks with whom you are acquainted but who are not as close to you as your friends – try to lead them to the Lord – don’t waste your time trying to impress these folks – they come and they go – they run when you are in trouble – they’ll cut you off when you need them.
You are in trouble when people in church and in the world are your acquaintances and neither are your friends – you call “them” friends [friends on social networks, for instance] – you need to go “all in” with one of these groups or the other – either make friends in church or in the world – you say, “I have no peers in church with whom to be friends” – Ryan is 20 and Milton is 64 and they are good buddies.
Foes – Job 42:11 – “the evil” – the evil was brought on Job by the devil but it was allowed by the Lord so the Bible says, “the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” – you cannot get bitter at your enemies, because the Lord is often the one directing and allowing them to do what they are doing as a benefit to you.
The devil will often use folks that are close to you as your enemies [the ones who aren’t close don’t matter as much to you] – sometimes these can be those whom you thought were friends [Jesus called Judas, “Friend”] – they will really hurt you but don’t get bitter – you need enemies to draw you closer to the Lord – remember that the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Conclusion: the greatest friend is Jesus – trust him – if you have already trusted him, befriend him – then make good friends – try to lead your familiar acquaintances to Christ and don’t get tripped up by letting them pull you away from Christ – and thank God when you have foes – they confirm your friendship with Jesus and they draw you closer to him.