Unexpected Wisdom - Elihu

“I will say my piece. I will speak my mind. For I am full of pent-up words, and the spirit within me urges me on.”

Job 32:17-18

A father, frustrated by his son’s habit of tracking dirt in the house every time he went out to play, snapped at the boy, “Can’t you find a place to play that’s cleaner?”

The boy looked quizzically at his dad and answered, “Dad, if God didn’t want me to play in the dirt, why did he make so much of it?”

Simple wisdom sometimes comes from unexpected places.

Job’s three friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—felt sure that God was punishing Job for some hidden sin, a charge that Job flatly rejected. Job saw no purpose for his suffering and thought that God was treating him unfairly.

All four had jumped to some seriously wrong conclusions.

Enter Elihu, who had listened to the four-way conversation but had kept his mouth shut because of his youth. Elihu finally spoke up, telling Job and his three friends that they had it all wrong. God wasn’t necessarily punishing Job, and even if he were, he certainly wasn’t treating Job unfairly.

“Listen to me, you who have understanding,” Elihu said. “Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong. He repays people according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve” (Job 34:10-11).

Wise words from an unexpected source!

Like Job’s other friends, Elihu made some seriously wrong assumptions about him. But although he misunderstood Job, he displayed a bit of understanding that the four older men either lacked or had temporarily forgotten.

Elihu knew that Job’s suffering could not be in vain. He knew that Job shouldn’t see his affliction as a sign that God didn’t care about him, but rather as a tool in God’s hand to teach Job more about his true character.

That’s a truth we all need to hear now and then.

Do you need special wisdom and knowledge today? If so, remember that God may use unexpected means to give it to you. Keep your eyes and mind open because you never know how—or through whom—God will speak to you.