Job 6 Devotional

Streams That Run Dry

“A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”Job 6:14 (BSB)

Job answers that if his grief could be weighed, it would be heavier than the sand of the seas (6:2-3). He says the arrows of the Almighty have pierced him (6:4), and he asks God to end his life. Yet one comfort remains: he has not denied the words of the Holy One (6:10).

Then he turns to his friends. A man in despair should be able to count on a friend's kindness (6:14). Instead his friends have been like desert streams that vanish in summer, leaving thirsty caravans to perish (6:15-20). He asks them to show him where he has gone wrong (6:24), and simply to look at him (6:28). Job is not asking for a solution. He is asking for faithfulness. Proverbs pictures a true friend whose love holds in every season, and a brother who is there for hard times (Proverbs 17:17). That kind of steady love comes from God himself, and he can make his people streams that keep flowing in someone else's dry season.

To think about: Who around you is in a dry season, and how could you be a steady source of kindness to them this week?