Pull The Weeds Out!

Today, I want us to look at two accounts in the Bible. The first one I want to look at is the story of Job. I want us to look back to when Job was struck by Satan with disaster and when his three friends heard about it, they came to offer their input on the matter. The second account is the parable Jesus told about the wheat and the tares. I want to look at these accounts because they connect with what I want to teach on today. 

How many of you have had a situation in your life that wasn't in your favor and people started coming to you to give you their opinions on the matter? How many of you have had someone say to you, "Let me give you a friendly piece of advice"? Many, if not all of us, at some point in time have had situations in our lives that were not good and family, friends, and others have offered a "friendly piece of advice". We've had times when we were going through something, that someone just had to put their proverbial "two cents worth" into the matter.

I want us to look at these two accounts in the Bible because the scripture I really want to drive home with you today will open your eyes to something you may or may not have considered before. And when I show you this scripture and what God has to say about accounts like these, I believe most, if not all of you, will be utterly shocked! What God has laid on my heart for this time and this hour I believe is divine revelation! Many of us today are going through hard times right now. We're struggling with our marriages, our jobs, our finances, and our very state of mind right now because of everything that is happening in the world today.

Israel is under attack from the Hamas. Our government leaders are squabbling over things that should be easily resolved. Inflation is running rampid in our economy right now. Gas prices are rising. The cost of groceries is at an all-time high! People are having trouble making ends meet simply because the cost of living is totally out of control. But God sent me here today to give you a word that will open your eyes to a realization that is a must see!

Job 2:11-13, "Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So, they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great."

Heavenly Father, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Bless the reading of Your Word and the teaching of it. Let every heart and every soul be touched by the grace of the living God. In Jesus Holy Name, we pray. Amen!

At first, Job's friends came to grieve with him. The Bible says that when they were afar off from him, they did not recognize him. Why? Because of all the sores on his body. And in chapter one, when he had heard that his family were killed, that his livestock and his wealth had been destroyed, he shaved his head, tore his robe, and said, "Naked I came into this world! And naked I will leave this world! The Lord has given and has taken away! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!"

So, when his friends came to be with their friend to grieve with him and seemingly to comfort him, they didn't recognize him because of the sores, the Bible calls them "painful boils". And because he shaved his head. They didn't expect to see that! They came thinking they were going to find their friend just as they remembered him. They didn't expect to see a man bald headed, cover in boils, looking like death warmed over in a waffle iron! But that's what they saw. And again, at first, they came to comfort him and grieve with him over the loss, mainly, of his family. But as we read on, their tune quickly changed into something else. But not before Job cursed the day he was born!

Job 3:1-26, "After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:

“May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’