Job CCL

 If Job were the man Eliphaz painted him to be, his rebuttal toward Eliphaz’s accusations would have sounded very different than what he answered. Here was a man whom his own friend painted as heartless and cruel, one who would merrily watch widows going hungry and men dying of thirst, who didn’t lash out angrily, who wasn’t caustic or biting in his response, who didn’t threaten or go on the offense, but whose only desire was to have an opportunity to plead his case before God.

Even when you are being accused of things you haven’t done by people you trusted, there is a certain decorum you must retain, and a particular way you must approach your defense. Surely, Job could have leveled his own accusations at his three friends; he’d known them long enough to know every time their actions or words did not mirror the righteous men they claimed to be, but Job wasn’t in the habit of fault mining, going toe to toe with baseless accusations, or trying to justify himself because there was nothing to justify.

He didn’t need to explain why his friends were wrong in interpreting what he’d done as wicked because he’d done nothing that could be misconstrued as such. When your first reaction is to defend yourself against baseless accusations, things that were said about you that were made up out of whole cloth, you’re playing the devil’s game, and it’s a game you can’t win.

A couple of years after I started traveling with my grandfather, there was a man who felt compelled to write a lengthy letter after he’d heard my grandfather give his testimony, insisting that rather than being a man sent by God to warn a nation to repent, he was a Russian agent whose mission was to dispirit the people of America, and make them see themselves as less than the shining light on a hill that they were. Yes, it was convoluted and had no basis in fact, but since we answered every letter we received, usually by hand, I took it to my grandfather and read some of the highlights contained therein, asking for guidance on what to answer.

To my surprise, because it was the first time he’d said something of the sort, he said, “nothing. When you entertain a fool and give him your time, you validate his foolishness and become a fool yourself. This man has made up an entire story, and insisting it’s not true will only make him dig his heels in. God will judge; He always does.”

That was one of those seemingly innocuous moments that taught me a life lesson. There was no prophecy, no casting out of demons, no fiery sermon, just a handful of words that I remember from time to time, reminding myself that not every question deserves an answer, and not every accusation merits a defense. An obvious lie will eventually expose the liar. The secret is having the patience for the situation to work itself out and not react in the flesh, so that in mounting your defense, you become the thing you’ve been accused of being. I’ve seen people grow bitter, resentful, angry, and hateful because they were accused of something they hadn’t done, and rather than let God deal with it, they sought to clear their name. It’s instinctual, to a certain degree, to try and vindicate oneself, but once you realize that the one doing the accusing isn’t looking for the truth and will twist every word you speak in your defense to prove your guilt, you’ll realize it’s a hopeless endeavor.

Psalm 26:1-3, “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.”  

Even though Satan was one among countless hosts of heaven and sons of God, and when God called Job blameless and upright, none of them tried to correct Him, Satan still tried to besmirch Job’s faithfulness and devotion. It was all of heaven against one lone voice, but the one the voice belonged to was so shameless and determined to prove God wrong that it didn’t matter to him whether Job was blameless; he was not concerned with whether or not he was upright; he’d find a way to make him seem less than the faithful servant he was.

The truth? Since when do we let the truth stand in the way of a self-serving narrative? What does the truth have to do with any of it? We’ll take the truth and call it a lie, we’ll take the lie and twist it into truth, and if you repeat both long enough, the simple-minded will go along because they always do.

Through it all, God sees, God hears, God knows. He knows that you have clung to your integrity, he knows that you have trusted in Him, and He knows that you have walked in His truth. He is not ignorant of the situation, or those accusing you of things you never did, and it is He who will vindicate, and bring to light the snares set before you, that the enemy was certain you would fall into.

Job wasn’t trying to vindicate himself; he was seeking to be vindicated by the God he’s served his entire life, a God who, for the first time in his existence, seemed distant, hidden, shrouded, and far from him and his cries.

If you are not the man or woman the enemy is accusing you of being, he will try to use others to turn you into it. It’s the most evil and sinister type of projection wherein the enemy, being fully aware that you are walking uprightly, with integrity and faithfulness, begins to level unfounded accusations and whispering innuendos to the point that your focus shifts from faithfully following after Him to defending yourself.

Keep following Jesus; God is your defender. Keep pressing in; God is your vindicator. Do not be distracted by the slings and arrows of men or devils. Your duty is to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and his minions. If we’re too busy trying to stand against the enemy in our own strength, not having bothered to put on the armor, we will lose. If we are wise and focus on putting on the whole armor of God, leaving nothing unattended, come what may, we will stand. Sometimes the reality of a situation is as simple as that.      

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.