Transcript

Executive Producer

Phil Colbourn

Podcast Introduction

Today is Poetry Thursday. We’ll read Job 7-8. Job continues his response to Eliphaz, then has a plea to God. And we’ll hear from Job’s friend, Bildad. We he be sympathetic to Job? I’m calling today’s episode “Leave My Kids Out of It.”

Comments on Job 8

My goodness gracious! What a terrible way to begin, when your “friend” is sitting there covered in ashes, with sores all over his body, having lost everything but his wife and his life.

Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down. I’m wondering if there was some jealousy going on with these three friends. Job had been the richest guy around, with a wonderful family and an all-around good life. Maybe these guys were jealous of Job. And now that it’s all gone, maybe they’re feeling a bit smug. Maybe they’re thinking, “I knew it was too good to be true. I knew Job just lucked into that life. And now God is evening the score. Job thought he was so good. Ha! How does it feel to be down in the pits? Huh, Job?”

So this guy, Bildad now says, “Your children sinned against God, so He punished them.” 

Ok. You can say what you want about me, but if you attack or accuse my kids I’m coming after you. Especially when they’re sick.

Our Trial With Our Son

A few years ago, my 21 year old middle son Steven came down with an extremely bad case of ulcerative colitis. It was so bad the gastroenterologist that first saw Steven said it was the worst case he had ever seen. 

For those of you that have heard this story, don’t worry. I’m not going to tell the whole ordeal here. Stick around. 

Long story short, shortly after having been diagnosed, Steven suffered a perforated colon. The UC had gotten so bad that the contents of his colon began leaking into his abdomen. He woke us up at about 2 in the morning in extreme pain. He had been sick for weeks at this point, and by now he had already lost 30 or so pounds, and he was extremely weak.

So we rushed him to the hospital, and within an hour or two he was in an operating room having his colon removed. The infection in his abdomen was so bad that he ended up being on round the clock IVs of four different high powered antibiotics for something like seven months. It took nearly ten months for him to return to work.

That first night in the waiting room, while Steven was being operated on, LeeAnn and I cried out to God, asking him to spare our son. We had no idea what the outcome would be, but we knew that Steven’s life was in His hands. 

Friends and family came to be with us as we waited. And believe me when I say that if one of them had said what Bildad said to Job, that would’ve been the last words ever between us. They would be out of our lives. 

Of course Steven is not perfect, but he has grown to be a good man. To accuse him of suffering some kind of punishment from God because of some moral failing would’ve been beyond the pale. 

Thankfully, we have a wonderfully loving and supportive family and that sort of thing didn’t happen. All through the ordeal with our boy, they were supportive in a thousand different ways, as was our astounding church family. They were truly what the New Testament church is supposed to be.

We are grateful that God has restored Steven’s health. He’s back to work and living life the husband of a good wife.

Yes, God heard our prayers and spared Steven, but I’m very aware that not every situation has the same outcome.

A Devastating Loss

When I was sixteen I had a sixteen year old girlfriend who was diagnosed with cancer and exactly one month after her diagnosis she was gone. She was very well known, and there were thousands of people praying for her, including her extremely devoted and doting parents. But for some reason, God did not choose to heal her.

Does that mean God was not good in that situation? Of course not. God does not change. God is always good. God is love. But His plans are seldom revealed to us. Like Job did, on that day that he lost everything, the appropriate response is to still praise Him.

What do you think? Have you suffered a great loss? What did that do to your relationship with God? Did it cause you to doubt God? Did you question Him? Did you ask, “Why me?”.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 7 GNT; Ch. 8 NIRV

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Transcript

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Job 7-8: Leave My Kids Out of It (LSFAB S13E026)

[TEASER – 0:00]
Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down.

[INTRO S13E026 – 0:10]
This is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California. Podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we’ll read the entire Bible in a year. I’m so glad you’re here today. This is Poetry Thursday. We’ll read Job 7 and 8. Job continues his response to Eliphaz, then has a plea to God. And we’ll hear from Job’s friend, Bildad. What do you think his attitude is going to be to Job? After the reading, I’ve got some comments and I’m calling today’s episode, “Leave My Kids Out of It”. But before we read, let’s pray.

[OPENING PRAYER – 0:46]
Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for the book of Job. We thank you, Lord, for what it teaches us about you and about how we should handle hardships. Teach us, Lord, as we read. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Okay, let’s begin.

[JOB 7 (GNT) – 1:03]
Job, chapter 7.

Job continues.

(1) Human life is like forced army service,
like a life of hard manual labor,
(2) like a slave longing for cool shade;
like a worker waiting to be paid.
(3) Month after month I have nothing to live for;
night after night brings me grief.
(4) When I lie down to sleep, the hours drag;
I toss all night and long for dawn.
(5) My body is full of worms;
it is covered with scabs;
pus runs out of my sores.
(6) My days pass by without hope,
pass faster than a weaver’s shuttle.

(7) Remember, O God, my life is only a breath;
my happiness has already ended.
(8) You see me now, but never again.
If you look for me, I’ll be gone.
(9-10) Like a cloud that fades and is gone,
we humans die and never return;
we are forgotten by all who knew us.
(11) No! I can’t be quiet!
I am angry and bitter.
I have to speak.

(12) Why do you keep me under guard?
Do you think I am a sea monster?
(13) I lie down and try to rest;
I look for relief from my pain.
(14) But you—you terrify me with dreams;
you send me visions and nightmares
(15) until I would rather be strangled
than live in this miserable body.
(16) I give up; I am tired of living.
Leave me alone. My life makes no sense.

(17) Why are people so important to you?
Why pay attention to what they do?
(18) You inspect them every morning
and test them every minute.
(19) Won’t you look away long enough
for me to swallow my spit?
(20) Are you harmed by my sin, you jailer?
Why use me for your target practice?
Am I so great a burden to you?
(21) Can’t you ever forgive my sin?
Can’t you pardon the wrong I do?
Soon I will be in my grave,
and I’ll be gone when you look for me.

[JOB 8 (NIRV) – 3:02]
Job, chapter 8.

The first speech of Bildad.

(1) Then Bildad the Shuhite replied,

(2) “Job, how long will you talk like that?
Your words don’t have any meaning.
(3) Does God ever treat people unfairly?
Does the Mighty One make what is wrong
appear to be right?
(4) Your children sinned against him.
So he punished them for their sin.
(5) But look to God.
Make your appeal to the Mighty One.
(6) Be pure and honest.
And he will rise up and help you now.
He’ll return you to the place where you belong.
(7) In the past, things went well with you.
But in days to come, things will get even better.

(8) “Find out what your people who lived long ago taught.
Discover what those who lived before them learned.
(9) After all, we were born only yesterday.
So we don’t know anything.
Our days on this earth are like a shadow that disappears.
(10) Won’t your people of long ago teach you and tell you?
Won’t the things they said help you understand?
(11) Can grass grow tall where there isn’t any swamp?
Can plants grow well where there isn’t any water?
(12) While they are still growing and haven’t been cut,
they dry up faster than grass does.
(13) The same thing happens to everyone who forgets God.
The hope of ungodly people dies out.
(14) What they trust in is very weak.
What they depend on is like a spider’s web.
(15) A person leans on it, but it falls apart.
He holds on to it, but it gives way.
(16) He is like a plant in the sunshine
that receives plenty of water.
It spreads its new growth all over the garden.
(17) It wraps its roots around a pile of rocks.
It tries to find places to grow among the stones.
(18) But when the plant is pulled up from its spot,
that place says, ‘I never saw you.’
(19) The life of that plant is sure to dry up.
But from the same soil other plants will grow.

(20) “I’m sure God doesn’t turn his back on anyone who is honest.
And he doesn’t help those who do what is evil.
(21) He will fill your mouth with laughter.
Shouts of joy will come from your lips.
(22) Your enemies will put on shame as if it were clothes.
The tents of sinful people will be gone.”

[COMMENTARY – 5:05]
Let’s talk a little bit about Job, chapter 8. My goodness gracious! What a terrible way to begin when your “friend” is sitting there covered in ashes, with sores all over his body, having lost everything but his wife and his life.

Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down. I’m wondering if there was some sort of jealousy going on with these three so-called friends. Job had been the richest guy around with a wonderful family and an all around good life. Maybe these guys were jealous of Job. And now that it’s all gone, maybe they’re feeling a bit smug. Maybe they’re thinking, “I knew it was too good to be true. I knew Joe just lucked into that life. And now God is evening the score. Job thought he was so good. Ha! And how does it feel to be down in the pits now, Job. Huh?”

So this guy, Bildad, now says, “Your children sinned against God. So he punished them.”

Okay. You know, you can say what you want about me, but if you attack or accuse my kids, I’m coming after you. Especially when they’re sick.

A few years ago, my 21 year old middle son, Steven, came down with a really bad case of ulcerative colitis. He had never had a history of it. But it was so bad that the gastroenterologist that first saw Steven
said that it was the worst case he had ever seen.

For those of you that have heard this story, don’t worry, I’m not going to tell the whole ordeal right now. Stick around.

Long story short, not long after having been diagnosed, Steven suffered a perforated colon. The ulcerative colitis had gotten so bad that the contents of his colon began leaking into his abdomen. He woke us up at about two o’clock in the morning in extreme pain. He’d been sick for a couple of weeks at this point. And by now he’d already lost about 30 or so pounds, and he was extremely weak.

So when he woke us up in such bad pain, we rushed him to the hospital. And within an hour or two, he was in an operating room having his colon removed. The infection in his abdomen was so bad that he ended up being on round-the-clock IVs of four different high-powered antibiotics for something like seven months. It took nearly ten months for him to get back to work.

That first night in the waiting room, while Steven was being operated on, LeeAnn and I cried out to God asking Him to spare our son. We had no idea what the outcome would be, but we knew that Steven’s life was in God’s hands.

Friends and family came to be with us as we waited. And believe me when I say that, if one of them had said what Bildad said to Job, that would have been the last words ever between us. They would have been out of our lives.

Of course, Steven was not perfect. He’s not perfect now, but to accuse him of suffering some kind of punishment from God, because of some moral failing would have been just beyond the pale.

Thankfully, we have a wonderfully loving and supportive family and that sort of thing didn’t happen. And all through the ordeal with our boy, they were supportive in a thousand different ways, as was our astounding church family. They were truly what the New Testament church is supposed to be.

And we are now grateful to God that he’s restored Stephen’s health. He’s back to work and living life as the husband of a good wife.

Yes, God heard our prayers and spared Stephen. But I’m very aware that not every situation has the same outcome.

When I was 16, I had a 16 year old girlfriend who was diagnosed with cancer. And exactly one month after her diagnosis, she was gone. She was very well-known. And there were thousands of people praying for her including her extremely devoted and doting parents, but for some reason, God did not choose to heal her.

Does that mean that God was not good in that situation? No, of course not. God doesn’t change. God is always good. God is love. But his plans are seldom revealed to us. Like Joe did on that day that he lost everything, the appropriate response is to still praise him.

Well, what do you think? Have you suffered a great loss? What did that do to your relationship with God? Did it cause you to doubt God? Did you question him? Did you ask, “Why me?”

In my case, with my girlfriend who died, I was convinced for years that prayer is hopeless, useless, a waste of time. Was many years before God and I got back on to speaking terms. I didn’t turn my back on him. But I just didn’t think he cared. Well, he’s taught me differently in the ensuing years. I was a new Christian at the time, and I just wasn’t prepared for it. But God knew and he carried me through. He didn’t give up on me even when I gave up on him. And that’s our God. He has patience with us. He can take it when we get mad. He can take it even when we doubt. And in his perfect loving way, he brings us back to a point of faith.

[LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE – 10:15]
What do you think? Have you suffered a great loss? What did that do to your relationship with God? Did it cause you to doubt him? Did you question him? Did you ask, Why me? Let me know. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511. And if you’re outside the US, dial +1 at the beginning of that number. You can comment on the show notes page at lifespringmedia.com/s13e026 or you can go to comment.lifespringmedia.com and put a comment in there. And you can always email me at st***@*************ia.com.

Tomorrow is Prophecy Friday. We’ll read Isaiah 18 to 22.

[SUPPORT THE SHOW – 10:58]
Phil Colbourn from Australia is today’s Executive Producer. He came in with a $333.33 donation. Thank you so much, Phil. God bless you.

And Phil is the one that wrote the other day asking about alternatives to PayPal. And that’s when I said that there are many other alternatives. There all the major credit cards, Cash App, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Bitcoin. And today, he wrote me after sending the donation and he said, “I think what happened is when I select or enter an amount, the screen jumps to number two.” Now, what this means is, basically, if you go to lifespringmedia.com/support on a mobile device, and you scroll down to the form where you enter the amount that you want to give, what happens there’s a blue button at the bottom of that little form on the button that says “Next”, when you tap on “Next”, the screen jumps to some of the other options, instead of staying on the form. So what you have to do is scroll back up a little bit more, go back up to the form to put in your name and your email and all the rest of your information. So if that’s happened to you, or if you go there today, and you want to make a donation – hey, there’s an idea! – when you put your amount in, you’re going to click “Next”, and then just drag the screen back down again, so that you’re back into the form, and you can complete the transaction. So Phil, thank you for telling me about that. I had no idea. I guess I violated a cardinal rule for people who put together websites. I didn’t go to my own website and work through the entire process to be sure it all worked right. So I put a note on the website just above the form to remind you to scroll back up in the future. If someone out there has an idea on how I can keep that jump from happening. Let me know. Phil, thank you for letting me know about this. I really appreciate it brother. God bless you.

And this is a value-for-value show. The only way I can continue to bring the show to you every day is with your support. There are no advertisers and there never will be. If you want to keep seeing new episodes coming to you every day. Please support it with your time, talent or treasure. The amount is up to you. Consider how much value the show brings to your life. Pray about it. Seek God’s will and then go to lifespringmedia.com/support. When you support the show, you’re coming alongside me. You are becoming a partner with me to bring God’s word to people literally around the world, lifespringmedia.com/support

[SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER – 13:32]
I just sent my bolognese sauce and garlic toast recipes off to Kirsty who puts together the newsletter. Be looking forward in your inbox over the next few days. And if you make them let me know how you like them. Now if you’re not signed up for the newsletter, hurry on over to news.lifespringmedia.com and sign up. If you like Italian food and you like to cook, you’re not gonna want to miss these recipes. Go to news.lifespringmedia.com and sign up. Of course the week’s reading schedule is always in there, and I won’t spam you or share your information with anybody. I promise.

[OUTRO S13E026 – 14:11]
Thanks to today’s Executive Producer Phil Colbourn for his support of the show. And I would be so much busier and would get so much less sleep without the team. Sister Kirstie does the newsletter. Brother Sean of San Pedro does the chapters that show up on the modern, slick, snazzy podcasting apps. And if your app doesn’t show the chapters, get a new one at newpodcastapps.com. And Sister Denise corrects the transcripts, which, also, only show up on a modern podcasting app. God bless each of you. Comment on the show by calling the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511 or by going to comment.lifespringmedia.com or by going to the show notes page at lifespringmedia.com/s13e026, or you can email me at st***@*************ia.com. You get the idea I want to hear from you? Yeah, I give you a lot of ways to do it. Now it’s your turn.

Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you for letting me come into your day. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Transcript corrected by Denise