Lesson 24: God’s Wisdom or Friends’ Wisdom

The second place we get bad advice from is our friends.

 Job 42:7 - "After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job was."

Job's three friends were not a very good source of wisdom. They not only said some wrong things, but their bad advice was twisting God’s character. We are tempted to not go to the Father for wisdom. We want to go to our friends. But it does not matter how good a friend you have, that still cannot make them right nor does it make them have perfect wisdom, and as long as we would rather listen to our handful of friends instead of our Heavenly Father, we are headed for trouble.

 What was the advice Job’s friends had given him? One said only those who are innocent of all wrong will prosper (Job 4-5). Another insisted that Job must have unconfessed sin in his life and this was the cause of his suffering (Job 8). The third friend said Job must have become a worthless person for God to punish him this way (Job 11). All three friends were only looking at human problems while God was looking to make Job stronger in his faith.


 So here is the point. How much proof do we need before we admit that our friend's wisdom, no matter how good it sounds at the moment, is not always best? In fact, if we are honest with ourselves, our friends can be one of the biggest sources for bad advice, because our friends, just like us, are fallen sinful creatures who have a limited amount of wisdom. Therefore, we might come up with some good ideas once in a while but we will never be right all of the time. Because our friend's knowledge is too often unreliable, then any so-called wisdom that comes from them is also going to be unreliable! It is wisest to seek advice from the One who knows all things, never makes a mistake, and never changes - God. He knows the beginning and the end, and has a perfect plan for making everything work out perfectly!

* Memorize Romans 8:28-30 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.”