The Three Musketeers

My reading today was Job 1-5 and around the end of Job chapter 2 I was reminded of the Three Musketeers.

By the end of chapter 2 Job had lost everything, his children, his servants and his livestock.  He had also been afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.  At the beginning of chapter 3 we hear about his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar who heard what was going on and went to him to comfort him and sympathize with him.  When they first saw him they began to weep and tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.  Then they sat down with him and no one spoke for 7 days.

In 1844, Alexandre Pere Dumas wrote the novel The Three Musketeers which is about three inseparable friends who live by the motto "All for one and one for all".  That's sort of like Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar...they were the first three musketeers so to speak.  They were so overwhelmed by what was happening to their friend that they shared in his grief.  They went to him and sat with him.  They didn't speak, they didn't try to solve the problem, they just sat with him.  Now if only they would've kept quiet and not started speaking after 7 days...but I'll talk more about that later.

Today I witnessed some modern day musketeers work together to bring in a fish.  It was Carl's fish.  No matter which pole a fish struck on, it was going to be Carl's fish.  So when a pole went down, the three of them jumped into action and while Carl worked the pole and the fish, David and Nathan did their jobs on the boat (dropping anchor, reeling in other lines, etc) to ensure the best possible chance for Carl to get that fish into the boat.  Then when he did, they all three celebrated like it was their own fish.  They high fived - they hooted and hollered - they celebrated together.  David and Nathan were genuinely thrilled that Carl got that fish in the boat.   For the rest of the evening they relived every moment of the exciting catch.  They shared in it together.

Carl is on the left, my husband Nathan is in the middle and my brother David is on the right

Friendship is defined as:

1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement

Job, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar and Carl, David and Nathan all call each other friends.  They were/are definitions 1, 3 and 4 to each other :-)

I have several great musketeers in my life as well.  Men and women who have stood by me through thick and thin.  They have listened to my heartaches and have prayed for me and have rejoiced in my successes just like they were their own.  They have sat with me quietly, laughed with me loudly and, at times, even cried with me.  They are my musketeers.  My definitions 1, 3 and 4.  I am so blessed to have them in my life and now that I live far away from them, I appreciate them even more.

I wonder if I'm a good musketeer.  I think I am but I know I could be even better.  Couldn't we all?  I know that Job's three sure could have.  Like I mentioned before, they shared in his grief and sat with him quietly for 7 days and then Eliphaz was the first to speak.  Unfortunately, Eliphaz had done a lot of thinking in all that silence and had come up with some strange conclusions.  He began to basically pass judgment on Job.  He began to offer answers and reasons as to why Job had been afflicted with such enormous troubles. His musketeering stopped.

How many of us have had that done to us or have done that to someone else?  How many of us have started out being a good musketeer and ended up sitting in judgment of the very person we care so much about?

We need to love the way God loves us - with grace and mercy.  We need to remember that they are our fellow musketeer and it could be that all we are to do is sit with them quietly.  Not solve their problems or point out their mistakes.  That is up to God to do.  Will He use us to do that?  Yep, He just might, but we better be darn sure that is what is happening before we open our mouths and start tearing someone down.  Words hurt and when we are having a tough conversation with someone, it has to come from a heart of love not from a heart of judgment. 

So musketeers...that's what I'll think of when I think about the first part of Job.  What to do and what not to do as a musketeer.  What about you?  How is your musketeering record?  Any room for improvement?