Friends of Job

Job 6:14-17


14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
as the streams that overflow
16 when darkened by thawing ice
and swollen with melting snow,
17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,
and in the heat vanish from their channels.


As I read this passage, I first thought about my own friends. Then, before I got carried away searching for the specks in the eyes of my friends, I realized I have to first look at the plank in my own eye. As I think about my own faults as a friend, I wonder how often I have told friends from BYX and from camp how I would help them and support them through life. I wonder how many times I’ve carried out those promises. I can’t even count the number of times I said I would pray for someone or be there if they ever needed me or promised someone that I would walk alongside them in their spiritual journey! I usually follow through with my promises and statements to pray or be available but not for very long. I might hold a friend accountable for a while…then we tend to get complacent and lazy. Every once in a while, I’ll call them up to check-up on them, but it is inconsistent, which is the problem.

The real truth to consistency, I think, is being steadfast even when times are good. So often, we will be there to support friends in distress, when their river is dry. We will flood them with love until they are soaked, but as soon as they are well nourished, we cut them off and move on instead of remaining consistent in feeding them the love and support they need.

I suppose I could and should apply this to my marriage. Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly here. I certainly try to remain steadfast in loving and supporting my wife, but I’m sure I’m rather inconsistent and have a few swells and rather dry seasons. I can say that I don’t think the river has ever run completely dry, but there may have been a few dams put up that have limited the love supply. Thankfully, God has been able to break down my walls and knock down those dams. Unfortunately, it requires that parts of me (mostly pride) get smashed down, which is often a rough process. Thankfully, this is how God works, because once the walls and dams are knocked down, love comes rushing through. I suppose the key and main point of the scripture passage is to keep the river rushing at all times, instead of the intermittent swells and droughts.

If we are being thorough and honest, I think we are the same with friends as with God. I mean this in the sense that when we are in need and our river is dry, we allow God to break down the flood gates and let him pour into us. He soaks us and washes out all the debris that has cluttered up the riverbed. (What a messy and wonderful thing!) The problem most of us face is that as soon as we are clean and have allowed the Living Water to soak in, we think we are good. We think that the spring of Life is in us…and, in a way, it is. The key is that the source of that water is our God, not us! As soon as we forget to keep coming back to the source, our river begins to dry up and the water level drops. As debris begins to dam up the stream, things get exponentially worse. The worst thing about this is that, at least in my experience, I can tell when things are getting dry and cluttered. I can tell when I am being lazy in my relationship with God and allowing the world and sin to clutter up our relationship. I just tend to wait until I’m in a drought before I go back to the source. Oh what a fool am I!

Therefore, my prayer is that, first and foremost, I will remain constant in my pursuit of the Spring of Life, the Living Water that sustains and supplies. Secondly, I pray that in my marriage, I may be consistent in keeping the dams knocked down and not allowing them to be rebuilt, that my wife may never be in need of more love from me than I am providing. I also pray that my friends may not be forgotten or left “high and dry” just because life gets busy. I pray that, at the very least, I regularly pray for my friends and am available when I’m needed. Lastly, I pray that my friends would do the same in their own lives and relationships with the Lord and their loved ones.

If we haven’t spoken in a while, please help me out and get that river flowing between us. As you may have realized, I need a little help in these pursuits, and although rivers flow in one direction, relationships should not.