LIVE DISCUSSION: (Job 16:1-5) "You're Miserable Comforters" Part 4/4

What if the most radical thing you do this week is a small act of stubborn kindness? We open with a bold claim: ordinary reactions are easy, but the way of Jesus calls us to do the divine thing—blessing the harsh, checking in before the crisis, and choosing restraint when our pride aches to be right. Through raw admissions of cowardice and unloving heat, we map a path from reflex to response, from winning the argument to guarding the soul, and from anxiety to courage grounded in God’s providence.

Our conversation turns to the deep comfort of Romans 8:28 and the story of Job. Trials are not random; they are permitted and bounded by a God who weaves purpose through pain. We share a midnight phone call with a friend betrayed by adultery and how being still can become the strongest action, making room for grace to settle the dust and for hope to speak. Along the way, we tackle a thorny question—can an unbeliever have the Holy Spirit?—and urge newer believers to anchor in Scripture, prayer, and wise community before chasing debates that only unsettle the heart.

From managing sorrow supernaturally to taming the tongue, we keep circling back to fruit. Kindness, gentleness, and self-control are not moods; they are evidence. Draft the angry paragraph, then delete it. Make that weekly call before someone falls through the cracks. Ask not only what Jesus would do, but what He is doing in you right now. And when the choice appears between being served and serving, follow the suffering Servant who dignifies our hardest moments with His presence and power.

If this resonated, subscribe and share it with someone who needs courage today. Leave a review with one takeaway you’re putting into practice this week—what small gesture will you choose?

Transcript

Ordinary Versus Extraordinary Love

SPEAKER_07 0:00

That is not ordinary. It's extraordinary. And this is what the love of God does. This is what the love of God does. And no matter what I say to Meg when we are having our own discussions offline or whatever, and I'm, you know, telling her about things and and what and whatnot, she keeps coming back. I can't drive her away if I try. I couldn't. It's an extraordinary person. And I gotta tell you, we all need to become extraordinary. We need to transcend what these guys are doing. What they are doing is ordinary. It's ordinary. It's human. It's human. You know? But the extraordinary person, they do the divine thing. They will go so far as to do good to someone who is brutish and evil and harsh and cruel. And that person will say, Why are you doing this to me?

SPEAKER_06 1:26

I've been treating you horribly. I've been treating you horribly. And you're treating me good. So it shouldn't be that hard to do to someone we care about.

SPEAKER_07 1:51

And so these little small gestures, sometimes they make it easier. I I feel that if I go through some trial or whatever, God forbid, some sometime, I feel that if if Sister Meg called me up and said, hey, what's going on? I have a good feeling that I would be totally comfortable talking to her about it. If it came to that. And that's what I mean about these little these little opportunities that we can just that we can make use of with other brethren, especially. We can just check in. Just give somebody a call. You know, take like I try to take one day a week and call a few people just to check in. Because when it when it goes bad for them, I think they may find themselves susceptible to allow me to be somehow involved in bringing them comfort. This is what I'm saying. Brother Pat, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

You know, um, there's a lot of us that are online and we try to have conversations with people and witness the gospel. And um part of it, I feel completely unqualified. If I'm sure we all do as Christians, I feel completely like uh I'm in over my head half the time. But the two biggest regrets that came to mind when you were speaking, Jonathan, that I have typically in conversations are a cowardice. If I should have said something and I didn't, that really it really weighs on my soul if I did that. Or if I wasn't as loving, if I got caught up in the in the flesh. Those are the two big ones for me, man. That it's a constant struggle to make sure you're you're not being cowardly and you're standing for what is right, and to balance that with love, it's tough.

Restraint, Pride, And Being Misunderstood

The Hard Call Of Christian Vocation

Providence: All Things For Our Good

Job As Model Of Tried Faith

SPEAKER_07 4:05

Right. Well, you know what, brother? Look, I'll I'll say this. You're aware of it, you know, and and and we all have that thing. One of mine is what we talked about already. The the restraint, you know, I had some sometimes I can't let things go. Sometimes I can't let things go. And it's like so if somebody, if somebody, you know, you know, comes to me and tells me what you said that was wrong. I'm like, oh no, no, no, no. We're gonna talk about this. Sometimes I just can't let it go. And even my older age, I'm still wrestling with that. I'm still wrestling with that. That need to be seen as right on this issue or that other issue. It's there. It's there. You know? And and so, and like you, Pat, it can it can come off sometime as unloving and and dispassionate. It it can it can be that way. And it's gonna be difficult for somebody to to really take a look and see what your heart is really like, even though your heart might be in the right place. Sometimes the way we express ourselves doesn't uh come across well. And so we have to continue to work on these things and uh and to try to be uh um decisive in our actions and and to um know that which is pleasable, pleasing, and acceptable in the Lord's sight is difficult, but it's in us all because the Spirit of God lives lives with us and He shows us. And the fact of the matter is, Pat, brother, you couldn't talk about it. If the if the Spirit of God wasn't working in you, you couldn't even bring it up. You couldn't even bring it up. Nor could I, my issues or faults, nor could anyone else's. But see, the one thing is so many of us have a tendency to want to hide our flaws, and so they never get dealt with. And sometimes just being able to express it openly is a relief enough for some people to get the ball rolling in a different direction that is more positive and more glorifying to God, and so it's hard. I'll say something I've said over and over and over again and will until the day I I go into the grave. The Christian the vocation of being a Christian, there's no greater call. It is the hardest task on life in life to be a Christian. There's nothing more difficult than that. And the and the crazy thing about it is God has made it so the world revolves around us. Look at the world. If you look closely enough, you'll see it all revolves around us. Not because of us anything in and of ourselves, but because what God works out his providence in this world through us. All the only reason this world continues to spin is because of God's love for us. It is in his eyes, it's all about us and his getting his glory through us. And we don't deserve it. We don't deserve it. But he said, you know, the word of God tells us all things work together for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. All things, that means nothing excluded. The wickedness of man happens for our glory. This is why the Christian should have great comfort, even in the midst of this political climate that we're in, and all the things that are going on in the world. You have to understand something. All these things are working out for our good. They are happening for our good. Go back and look at that verse and read what it's really saying. All these things happen, they're happening for us. Satan went to the divine divine the divine tribunal to ask God about who he could take down. God said, Go after Job. God was working out something for Job's good. Just like he is for your good and my good and the good of all believers. It's all about us. It sounds crazy, but that's what it that's what the word of God is teaching us. So I'll give our everyone their last word for tonight. Thank you for your kind attention, your generous ears, and uh, I hope it was a blessing to you tonight, and we'll we will continue uh, God willing, tomorrow night. So, Grace, I'll start with you, sister. Since you came in last, I'll let you be the first to give your last word. Good evening. Grace, you there?

Q&A: Can Unbelievers Have The Spirit

SPEAKER_04 9:14

Oh, hi. Sorry, my toddler was distracting me. Um no, I am I s apologize for being late. I mean, I know I don't have to apologize, but I'm more apologizing for myself because I missed out. But anyways, um, no, I I so appreciate you guys. Um really, like you guys really are God's son because and like God's timing is so perfect because you guys came at a time where like I was praying every day to God, like I feel like so al like I know he's there for me. So I didn't really feel alone, but like I just felt like I had no one, you know what I mean? So and I also I did have a question because I came across something so peculiar earlier today. Like I came across the man, he said that he believed in Jesus Christ, but he didn't like he was an unbeliever, but he also reads the Bible and he was also like displaying, in my opinion, he was also displaying um fruits of the spirit, but he called himself an unbeliever. So I was kind of con like I was like, hmm, so can like some can an unbeliever have the Holy Spirit, or no, like I'm just I was a little perplexed by that.

Counseling In Crisis And Being Still

SPEAKER_07 10:41

No, there's that's impossible. That's impossible, you know. Look, some some people, you know, um can play the chameleon road robe um role, and they will be, you know, you know, there's certain people who like to come off as if they know everything about everything. And um and I'll tell you something. There is no way to know Jesus Christ and not be a believer. Unless you're Satan. You can know him that way. You know, he is not a believer, he's going to be cast out into the outer darkness, into the lake of fire. He knows exactly who Jesus Christ is, what he can and what he does, and what he can do, and what he will do. He knows that. He knows where Jesus came from. He knows who the Lord's Father is, and he can't do anything about it. So the short answer is that no, there's no such thing as a man that can be a Christian and and know Christ. And and and I will tell you that this is the kind of person until you become exercised in the word of God, stay away from, is what I would say. Stay away from. It'd be different if you were, if you know, if you're one of these mature, seasoned believers that that that can handle the word of God, that can get engaged in these conversations, but for somebody that that will just tell you that that would say that can't be good. Can't be good. And the fact that it's still on your mind is proof of what I'm just saying. So at this point, I would I would say to somebody like him, um, well, we there's nothing for us to talk about. There's nothing for us to talk about. And I'm not saying that that will be the case all the time, but what I am saying is that give yourself some time to really get settled in in God's truth on your own and really get into the word of God, be in these studies or whatever studies you're that you're in, be in your own personal time with the Lord and the prayer and the reading of the word of God, and stay away from these people until you get yourself grounded and just let them know, well, I believe in Jesus Christ, I know I'm saved, and the Holy Spirit lives in me, but there's no way you can be you can you can know Christ and not and uh uh and not be a believer. That's impossible. No, that's impossible. Stay away from those kind of people. It's probably gonna be lead down a really, really bad, bad road, is what I would uh recommend. You know, I never said I tell people what to do, but it's up to you what you do. It's my strong, strongest recommendation that I can give you in that regard. And that's because I actually do care for your soul. Okay. Sister Meg, last word.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Well, my first word is you probably didn't read the text message that I sent in response to you earlier.

SPEAKER_06 13:48

No.

Supernatural Response To Sorrow

Pause, Tame The Tongue, Trust God

SPEAKER_01 13:49

But um I I just, you know, sometimes, you know, last night there was an issue, and one of one of my friends here on TikTok was reaching out for prayer in the live that we were all the part of and we didn't know it was her. And I ended up staying on the phone with her until like three o'clock in the morning because she just found out that her husband 14 years had committed adultery. And um, you know, it gives us everything from Job that we've learned, the Lord allowed me and gave me the grace to speak to her in that moment when she was completely asking why, and she didn't understand. But by the time we got off the phone, the Lord had worked it out, and he's going to. And I and I I truly believe that the Lord is going to move in one of the mightiest ways that she has ever seen from that conversation. And you know, it just shows that even in the midst of trials, tribulations, suffering, God is doing something, and he is going to deliver on every single thing that is in his will for us. Every single thing. He's going to do it. And sometimes we just have to sit back, and the hardest thing in scripture is to be still and know that I am God. It's it's such a short sentence, but it is the hardest thing to do. And so, you know, I I think throughout this book I've learned also that suffering isn't what the world says it is. It's for the glory of God. The evil that's going on, like you said, it's working for our benefit. Believers in Christ, we are seeing like never before. If there wasn't evil, how would we know that God's true? And everything that he says, Pat told me this, being the devil, he he says Satan has a purpose, and and the devil has tested and tried every single thing that God has done, and he remains true. And to me, Satan's serving a great purpose, and he doesn't even realize it. Just like the deceived and deceiver are gods, and they're all working for him, whether they want to or not.

SPEAKER_06 16:27

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for those things because I know that God's true. We move from being a believer to being a knower and knowing who he is because he's never gonna tell his children, I never knew you, but he's gonna tell other people that.

SPEAKER_07 16:46

That's right. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

I'm grateful for it.

SPEAKER_07 16:49

Absolutely. Sister Candy, last word.

Servant Hearts Versus Self-Interest

SPEAKER_03 16:56

I just want to read a little something right quick. And it's about managing sorrow supernaturally, whether it's you or whether it's something that you give to someone else. And in addition to the immediate effect, suffering itself, suffering steals the energy of doing the right things for the right reasons. We get touchy, we get edgy, we get snappy. We're so weary that we argue with the very people that we need the most. That's natural. But acting naturally increases suffering. So be supernatural. Call on God's supernatural power to help you keep doing good as the faithful as to a faithful creator. Because God's spirit will absolutely equip us to choose spirit-filled actions during suffering. This will give you two gifts you won't suffer for doing evil or being a busybody. God's spirit will empower you to reject contentions and jealousies, um, wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, and it goes on and you can resort to Galatians 5:20 and 21. But it then it leads with this God's Spirit will empower you to choose kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those times are not usual. So be unusual. Be unusual. It's okay to be different, don't be natural, be unnatural. We gotta go against the world, man. And being against the world is natural or supernatural to be against the world because the only way we're gonna be against the world is if we're in God, and God is in us, and that's where our strength and power and all the goodness that we have comes from. It says that we will be known by our fruits, right? So don't let our actions be the actions of Job's three friends.

SPEAKER_07 18:41

Amen, sister. Amen. Good word, Sister Lisa. Last word for tonight, sister.

SPEAKER_08 18:51

Well, another excellent live. I might just kind of like to piggyback off of what Candy was just saying there for a moment. Um for me, I know in the times that I feel or have felt attacked, um, whether I was actually being attacked or it was whether it was my perception of what was going on. You know, my first inkling is to go for the juggling. You know, I want to I can tell you of pages of response, and then right before I hit send, you know, the Holy Spirit says, Okay, you got it out now. Delete that. You know. Um okay. I mean, it's happened in a number of times, or when I really want to just uh, you know, I want to say what I want to say. For some reason, I just hold it back. Well, not for some reason. It's God within me just keeping my tongue where it needs to be for the moment, and that works out. So it's just it's just a reminder for us to you know take a pause before just pause. And what, you know, and you know how you know you you made you made a joke earlier, somebody said, how what would Jesus, what's Jesus gonna do, or what would Jesus do? Really, honestly, right? Um, at least in the moment, we just need to pause for a minute and uh and let him do the work in us, you know, because if if we handle it on our own, uh we're gonna do it wrong. Right. I mean, at least I know I I am gonna do it wrong. Yeah, me too. And so I I rely, I rely big time, and I'm so grateful because the few times that I know of that I really wanted to act in it in a different way than I acted, it it worked out in my favor. You know what I mean? Like when I when I wanted to say what I wanted to say, but didn't, it worked out for me. And um God is good in that way. So we got to lean on him, we gotta rely on him. This book is amazing. Um, and I am seeing the similarities in myself. Surprisingly, I like to always relate myself to Job, but today I was really trying to see myself in the other, the other guys in the tongue. You know, so you know, little steps, baby steps, Jonathan, you know. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_07 21:25

But that's but that's really that's really the wise way to look at this, not not to just see ourselves in Job, but see ourselves in all these other guys too that are in there and see how see if there's any aspect of them that exists within them, us, and it, and if we're honest, we will find that they each of them has a trait or two that exists in us all. That exists in us all. And we just need to rec to to reconcile that and then and be able to to recognize it and then to manage.

SPEAKER_05 22:00

it um when it starts to surface so it's a good it's a good y you have to recognize it first before you can do anything about it so and that's what studying the word of god together will do for us sister Mariah last word sister yes um this this was another great study I told you we'd make it to 730 just want to make that clear no um you know job says in um 71 it says is there anything is is not hold on sorry that's right is there not a time of hard service for man on earth and I think that his friends just don't understand that there comes hardship there's a time and a season for everything and if we just chop it all up to sin then you know what else is left for God and I think that it's wise that we do try to um seek the things that are our our love that we may um uplift one another and encourage one another because at this point in time like you said it's so easy to just let the tongue flap and do its own thing you don't almost even have to think about letting it loose you know it'll it'll go in the wind wherever the wind takes it if you let it um but it says who can tame it and nobody can tame it but God himself because if it's not God taming your tongue for you like it is Job here then we would all have a very different response and we would be more like his um friends on a daily basis you know so I just think that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

It is very good very good sister Sean it's always a delight when we have you here sister so uh do try to come back as often as you can we love it when you're here you always get great input what's your last word for today yeah I appreciate that um in this conversation I'm reminded of Proverbs 18 and 21 where it says that death and life are in the power of the tongue and you know words have real consequences and they can destroy relationships and even hope and but on the flip side they can encourage heal teach all the things that Job was saying that he would do in the flip side and you know it said you know it also said that those who love it will eat its fruits so you reap the consequences of your words and you know so even in that the harmful speech not only you know it harms the listener but it also harms the person speaking it to and in that same book it said that there uh he that hath friends must show himself friendly right job's this is a person who already has friends job's friends did not do that they didn't complete that but it said there's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother in this instance our comfort has to come from God he is that friend that sticketh closer than a brother and that comfort I am comforted in we are all comforted in that comfort and so this conversation was really good now we'll be back.

SPEAKER_07 25:25

Good sister I know you will I know you will and I gotta tell you that's that's is a very good summation of the the section that we've covered tonight. Really good um application um brought forth to to this to this particular conversation tonight really good brother Pat if you would mind uh give us your last word and if you would close us out if you would if you don't mind if you don't feel comfortable that's okay I don't mind at all um first of all I have to say the comments were just really great and I found every single person on the panel to be spot on and insightful um with their takes on this passage of scripture and um my two cents is tonight really made me think of the beginning of the book of Job where God says to Satan have you considered my servant Job and then Mariah mentioned that here's Job he says isn't there a time for hard service right he has the heart of a servant do these friends are they there to serve him?

Closing Prayer And Farewell

SPEAKER_02 26:30

Are these three friends do they have the heart of the servant is that what they're doing I would say no the the they are not there to be servants to Job and that's something I think we can really learn what are we doing here are we here to have people serve us and or to serve our own self-interest and our own pride or are we here in service of others taking on that that um example of Christ the suffering servant right it's a really great study tonight. So that's all I have to say and uh if you guys will join me in prayer. Sure thank you brother dear Heavenly Father we thank you so much for your word Lord we are sinful people Lord and we need to be changed from the inside we need you for everything Lord we pray that we not only hear your word that we not only understand your word but that your word takes hold inside us and becomes alive and works its way out through us Lord we pray that we can take on the role as your servants here on earth Lord we pray that we will become proper representatives Lord and that in all our ways we will honor you and glorify you Father we thank you for all that you have done for us Lord we pray for the souls that you are going to save Lord we pray that we can be used to preach the gospels to the ends of the earth that all your elect might come to you Lord God tonight I also want to pray for those who are suffering in the world Lord those with sickness hardship we live in a world with oppression and suffering Lord I pray that your love be made known to the entire world Lord as we look forward to that which is wrong to be made right Lord upon your return. We thank you for the study Lord I pray for all the brothers and sisters in this room Lord that you be with them and protect them and guide them.

SPEAKER_05 28:39

And we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ amen thank you really I only have one here with me but she's willing to say goodnight I love you all right you guys take it easy thanks again brother goodbye telling you behave you guys have a great God bless everybody all right you guys take it easy God bless