As for you, if you redirect your heart and lift up your hands to Him in prayer – if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it, and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents – then you will hold your head high, free from fault. You will be firmly established and unafraid. Job 11:13-15 HCSB
Clarksville, Tennessee sponsors a festival called Rivers and Spires each year. There are bands playing, booths selling items, and an abundance of refreshments. First Baptist Church helps sponsor this festival. The Kids Zone is usually on the church parking lot. The church is provided with some booth space in several different areas. One booth is used as an “evangelism booth”. Its purpose is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. At this booth a variety of methods are used to engage people in a spiritual conversation about their salvation. One method is to encourage people to read a poster with the words, “A bird in hand is is worth two in the bush.” Most people will usually skip over the second “is” and not notice it, at which point the person is asked, “Are you sure?” Most will look at it again and then say, “Yes”. We would then slowly read the poster pointing out the double word “is”. This would allow us to say, “Often we think we are right, when we are actually wrong. We may
think we are going to heaven because we are good enough, but God’s Word gives us specific instructions about how we can be forgiven and receive eternal life.”
What Zophar, one of Job’s friends, suggested to Job in these verses seemed to be right and correct, but in Job’s case this was not correct. Zophar suggested that Job had sinned and done something against God. He assumed that Job’s suffering was the result of sin in his life. This was a wrong assumption. It seemed right but it was wrong.
Challenge: We sometimes jump to conclusions that are not correct. We can not use logic to explain human suffering. It does not fit every situation. Be careful that you are not deceived and that you know the truth.