Read:
Bildad had been sitting with Job in silence for a week. He’s heard Eliphaz speak. Job’s response. Now Bildad decides it’s his turn. While Eliphaz suggested Job must have sinned, Bildad goes even further—he places the blame on Job’s children.
Think back to Chapter 1. When Job’s children gathered for feasts, Job regularly prayed for them, just in case they had sinned. Job never claimed his children were perfect. But in his response to Bildad, Job doesn’t argue about his children at all. Instead, he shifts the focus to God.
Job points to God’s sovereignty. That word simply means God is in control over all creation, all nature, and all humanity. God’s authority is complete, even when his ways are beyond our understanding.. Job says that God “does great things too marvelous to understand” (Job 9:10, NLT). Isaiah echoes that truth: “’My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts… And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine…’” (Isaiah 55:8, NLT).
We won’t always know why God allows certain things to happen. But we can know who he is—and we can trust him.
Job also understood something else: people need a mediator between themselves and God. He interceded for his children, knowing they needed someone to stand in the Gap. Job didn’t know the Mediator’s name, but we do. Jesus is our Mediator. Through his death and resurrection, our sins are forgiven, and we are made children of God. That identity cannot be taken away.
In the middle of our struggles, that truth gives us real hope.
Pray: God, I know I’ve fallen short. I have sinned against you. Thank you for sending in my place. Help me trust you when I don’t understand, and remind me that nothing I face can ever separate me from you. Amen.