God must love me more

A [disaster] is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; it is made ready for those whose feet slip.— Job 12:5

During a difficult recession, I organized a support group for fellow Christians to help them cope with unemployment. We provided resumé reviews, networking, and prayer support. One problem emerged: Whenever someone got a job, he or she almost never returned to the group to offer encouragement. That increased the loneliness and isolation of those left in the group.

Worse, though, were comments from those who had never experienced a job loss. They mirrored the accusations of Job’s friends in his suffering: “If you were pure and upright, surely now [God] would awake for you, and prosper [you]” (8:6). By chapter 12, Job is starting to express things in terms modern workers can understand. He says that he feels despised by those whose life is easy (v.5).

When things are going well for us, we may start to think that we who don’t have troubles are better somehow, or are more loved by God, than those who are struggling. We forget that the effects of this fallen world are indiscriminate.

We are all loved by the Lord and we all need Him — in good times and bad. The successes, abundance, and positions that God has given to us are tools to help us encourage others in their time of need.— Randy Kilgore

Give us the humility, Lord, not to act like Job’s friends who accused him of sin because of his trials. Show us how to help those who are struggling so that we might

give the kind of encouragement You have given us.

READ: Job 12:1-10

Humility toward God

makes us gentle toward others.