OMBS7, Be willing to wait.

PRAYER - "Elihu Skillfully Indicts Job, Demands Repentance"

Elihu debated against Job's self-righteous plea, demanding that God does no wrong to any man, including Job. All men eventually get what they deserve. God cannot deal unrighteously, nor put more on him than is right, but He will break a man or destroy him if necessary. Job must admit His chastening and beg forgiveness of all wrongdoing. 

Job 34:36 - "My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God."

PRINCIPALS - "Elihu Convicts Job Of Being Proud And Evil"

Elihu hammered Job for a truthful answer, "Is your righteousness more than God's?" He pressed Job to confess whether he believed he needed cleansing from sin. He said that people ordinarily cry out to God when they are sorely oppressed, but forget God after He has helped them. Then they become proud and evil, and God refuses to answer them. That is your state, Job. You have become proud and evil.

Job 35:14 - "Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, ...he hath visited in his anger; ...Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge."

PRINCIPLES - "Do Not Let God's Punishment Embitter You"

Elihu exhorted, "If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword. ...But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: ...They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean." Elihu concluded that Job was the recipient of God's wrath because of his hypocrisy. He warned him not to be further embittered because God had punished him.

Job 36:18 - "Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee."

PROPHECIES - "Men Cannot Know All God's Majesty. Be Humbled."

Elihu made his closing argument just before God took over the conversation. Elihu depicted the greatness of God in heaven and earth - thunder, lightning, snow, rain, whirlwinds, north winds, frost and ice. "He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy." His point? God is too majestic to predict. Admit your failings and surrender to Him. 

Job 37:23 - "Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice. Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart."

Be Willing to Wait

He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.

– Proverbs 21:23, The Amplified Bible

There's just no two ways about it. If you want to live a life of blessing, you're going to have to make your words agree with what God says. Not just for a few hours or a few days, but all the time.

And if you've ever done that, you know it's not easy. As time wears on and the circumstances around you appear to be stubbornly determined to stay in the same miserable condition they've always been in, it's hard to keep on speaking God's Word. But you have to do it if you ever want your harvest of blessing to come in.

When Gary started preaching, I sat out there and listened to him with holes in the bottom of my shoes. We had terrible financial problems but we knew those problems didn't change what the Word of God said. We knew His prosperity promises were true even if we hadn't been able to tap in to them yet. So, even though we felt foolish at times, we just kept on talking about God's generous provision for us.

I realized later that Word went to work for us from the first day we began to believe it and speak it and order our lives according to it. Our prosperity crop began to grow the moment we started putting seeds in the ground. It just took time for them to come up.

The problem is, believers don't last that long. They start planting well enough, but then when they don't see immediate results, when the bank account gets low and rent is past due, they get discouraged and begin to speak words of lack and defeat. They tear up their crop with the words of their own mouths, and they never get to enjoy the fruit of it.

The next time you strike out on faith, whether it's in the financial realm or any other area, keep that in mind. Determine from the beginning that you're not going to let that waiting period discourage you. Then hang on until the Word of God is manifest in your life. Put patience to work and keep your words in line. You will receive your harvest.