Job CCCVII

 Job 33:29-33, “Behold, God works all things, twice, in fact, three times with a man, to bring his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life. Give ear, Job, listen to me; hold your peace and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me; hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”

In all of his self-serving diatribe and repeated attempts to elevate himself to a position of authority he had no right to appropriate, Elihu did happen upon a nugget of wisdom that cannot be dismissed or readily brushed off. In an admittedly roundabout way, Elihu hit upon the grace and mercy of God, wherein He will endeavor to bring a man’s soul from the Pit not once, but twice, in fact three times as Elihu states, and for some even more than that.

I’ve never been a fan of modern technology, and with the increase in spam calls, or individuals trying to sell me extended warranties for a car that isn’t worth the monthly premium of said warranty, the ringer on my phone is permanently on silent. I don’t like distractions, especially when I’m spending alone time with God, and wouldn’t you know it, that hour or two in the morning that I carve out as both intentional and exclusive to get into the Word and spend time in prayer is when everyone decides to reach out.

I often find three or four missed calls when I finally get around to checking my phone after I’m done with my quiet time, and they're always spam, potential spam, or an unknown caller who picked that specific time to dial my number.

I learned early on that one of the most often used and undeniably effective tools of the enemy is distraction. You commit yourself to a time of prayer, or study, you purpose in your heart that this thirty minutes, an hour, or two hours will be used exclusively for that pursuit, and suddenly everyone wants a piece of you, a moment of your time, something that can’t be put off or delayed, because if the enemy can keep you from spending time with God one day, he will attempt to rinse and repeat the rest of the week, then the month, then the year.

It never ends up being the emergency it was presented as being, and you find yourself having missed that window of being alone with God, because once the day gets started, it never stops. Between rushing the kids to school, packing their lunches, going to work, or the hundred other things we need to do to keep our head above water, the moment has passed.

The point is that a relationship must be reciprocal. If you want to know God on a deeper level, you must make the time to spend with Him. If you want understanding about a given biblical topic, you must make the time to study it. Yes, God works all things twice, in fact three times, to bring a man’s soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life, but it requires the individual’s consent and participation insofar as he does not resist the spirit of grace, nor turn his back on the proffered love.

God doesn’t take hostages. He will not keep you in His kingdom at gunpoint. Jesus Himself said if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. This is the way, walk in it.

Jesus did the heavy lifting. His purpose on earth was to reconcile us to the Father, something He alone could accomplish, and by His sacrifice made a way for us to be with Him in paradise, saved from the Pit, born anew, sanctified, and cleansed of what we once were, to be transformed into an image of Himself. In His own right, God extends grace, mercy, and forgiveness to all who humble themselves, but He will not force Himself on anyone. He knocks, and we open. He calls, and we answer. He molds, and we submit, not growing brittle or stiff-necked, but remaining malleable.

Any goodwill Elihu may have fostered by his mention of God’s grace gets canceled out when he once again attempts to bring the spotlight back on himself and insists that Job should listen to him, hold his peace, and allow him to teach him wisdom. A person who thinks they know more than they do is a danger not only to others but also to themselves. There was no humility in Elihu, no allowance for the possibility that things weren’t as they seemed at first glance, and like a bull intent on goring whatever stands before him, Elihu pushed ever onward, insisting that anything he had to say was wisdom personified.

Elihu was the quintessential armchair quarterback, the man who not only knew everything but believed he would have acted and reacted to a specific situation better than the individual in question. He never bothered to consider all that Job had lost, all that he had been through, or all that he’d endured thus far. His narrative was firmly established, and he would not be swayed from his position. He was wise in his own eyes, and he was sure to let everyone know it, for after all, if you don’t point out your wisdom, who’s going to do it?

You see this happening in churches and ministries often enough: a soon-to-retire pastor or head of a ministry brings on a young, unseasoned individual to take the helm, only to have them reimagine the ministry's mission statement and transform it into something unrecognizable within a matter of months. Never mind the hostile takeovers taking place in the corporatized Christian landscape, wherein someone believes they can do a better job than the individual who spent decades building up the work. The one question that’s rarely asked, and one that should be asked more often, is if you’re so star-spangled awesome and you have the vision to grow something exponentially, why covet another’s ministry rather than starting your own?

As was the case with Elihu, the sad reality is that some men’s hubris exceeds their intellectual ability, and when it comes to ministry, many go without being sent, doing more harm than good in their single-minded pursuit of something that was never theirs to begin with.   

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Posted on 14 June 2026 | 11:27 am