Job 15: Job is speaking to my role as a parent!

Have you heard the counsel of God?

Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

Much older than your father.” Job 15:8, 10 NKJV

It’s interesting, isn’t it, how the Bible tells us to “come to Christ like a child”? There’s also Scripture that speaks about not being looked down on because of how young we may be. While there were things about my younger years—confidence, courage, and a willingness to try—that wisdom has since tempered, there is also something deeply valuable about experience and age.

Life has a way of teaching lessons that only time can deliver.

There’s a real tension between being young and being old. Neither is better, just different. Sitting here as I raise teens and young adults, I see this tension playing out constantly in our relationships. I notice how often I want to open my mouth and offer advice—whether it’s been asked for or not.

Most of that comes from a place of protection. Some of it is also my desire to keep parenting and teaching them the way I always have. No matter whether my motives are great or not, it isn't always received well. As we’re seeing with Job’s friends in today’s reading, even well-meaning counsel can cause real harm.

Lately, my strategy has been simple but not easy. When a word or a thought about someone pops into my head, I try to bite my tongue and pray first. I wait and ask the Lord how He wants me to move forward. Sometimes that means speaking, sometimes it means staying quiet and at other times it simply means carrying that person or situation to Him in prayer. It’s a real juggling act for sure, no doubt. It also reminds me of my need to depend on God daily, especially when wisdom, restraint, and love are required all at the same time.