Teaching Notes

You are never alone.  It does not matter what you are facing, God is always with you.  Jesus is the kind of friend that is true no matter what the weather.  He is there in the good, as well as the bad.  Can you trust him today?  Yes you can, so let him be your friend.

Do You Have Any Friends?

Job 19:13-22 (The Message)

13-20 "God alienated my family from me; everyone who knows me avoids me. My relatives and friends have all left; houseguests forget I ever existed.
The servant girls treat me like a bum off the street, look at me like they've never seen me before.I call my attendant and he ignores me, ignores me even though I plead with him. My wife can't stand to be around me anymore. I'm repulsive to my family. Even street urchins despise me; when I come out, they taunt and jeer. Everyone I've ever been close to abhors me; my dearest loved ones reject me. I'm nothing but a bag of bones; my life hangs by a thread.


21-22 "Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me. God has come down hard on me! Do you have to be hard on me, too? Don't you ever tire of abusing me?

Notes: Job is having a rough time?  Everything that he had has been taken away, family, possessions, everything.  To make things worst his friends have come to him to tell him what he has done wrong.  How hard it must be when you are looking for comfort from friends, to recieve rebuke instead.

Question: What does Job express regarding his friends treatment?

Answer: Job ask them aren't they tired of being hard on him and abusing him.  Job was frustrated because he had not done anything wrong but his so called friends were not there to comfort him, but were adding to his misery.  This is something you might have felt before yourself.  You were going through something hard and was looking for your friends to be understanding, instead they made things worst.  Yet, we can find comfort in this one thing, that even when friends leave you, God won't.  He promises to be the kind of friend that never leaves us nor forsakes us.  So in your times of trouble when no one else will stand with you, know you are not alone.  You have a friend, his name is Jesus.

Prayer: Jesus, I need a true friend today, I need you.  You promise you will never leave me nor forsake me.  You promise me you will love me even when I am not always so loveable.  When I am weak, you will still love me.  Today, Lord I need your help because somethings are difficult and I need your guiding hand to help me through.  Thank you for being my friend.