“I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all….”
I am assuming that you know something about the afflictions of Job. Job had a good life. He had a good family, a lot of cattle, and a lot of money – whatever that meant in that day. He was also a man who pleased God. He pleased God so much that when Satan said that Job was so good because his life was so comfortable, God took him up on it and allowed him to put Job to the test. (He’s God! He knows what He’s doing, so don’t question His perfect wisdom here.) Three of Job’s good friends heard about the misfortunes that had happened to Job and came to visit him. Their names were Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. This is where we come to “miserable comforters.” In the beginning, they were not miserable comforters. In Job 2, we note that when they heard about Job’s troubles, they packed up and went to visit him. When they arrived at Job’s place, they wept and mourned with him when they saw how bad the situation really was. In Job 2:13 we read: “So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was great.” At first, they did the right thing. They sat with him for seven days and seven nights. This means that they were really good friends. They were also wise in that they sat with Job and did not say a word. To use my own vernacular, they kept their mouths shut. If you don’t want to be a miserable comforter, when you are with grieving friends, don’t say a word, because usually at those times you will say the wrong thing. I discovered in my own grief ministry, that my being there was enough. At most I learned to say, “I have come to grieve with you.” There are other good things to say, but if in doubt keep your mouth shut. After seven days of friendly ministry, they decided to try to find the cause of Job’s problem. To make a long story short, they blamed God for Job’s problems. To be sure, God allowed Satan to do what he was doing, but it was Satan’s dirty work that caused Job’s misfortunes. One preacher, whose name escapes my mind, wrote a quote that has stuck with me over the years: “Why do we blame God for all of our troubles? Why would we make Him our enemy, when we need Him most as our friend?” Even if God caused the problem, we should not blame Him, because whatever he allows to happen in our lives happens for a good purpose. Instead of blaming God, we should praise Him, for He is always worthy of praise. Blaming God is never the answer for the misfortunes of our friends, or for the answer to our own misfortunes. In the process of blaming God, they judged that the reason Job was in his dire straits was because of his own behavior. They figured that God was punishing Job for some bad thing that he had done. Space doesn’t allow me to quote everything that these three friends said; suffice it to say that they did not really help Job by putting the blame on his behavior. Remember, Job was being tried by Satan’s acts because he was living the right kind of life. Job’s three friends just assumed that they knew what God was doing. We don’t help people when we judge them for what is happening in their lives. What grieving friends need, no matter what the cause of their grief, is a word of encouragement. If they really need to make changes in their lives, we should do it in a loving way and not in a judgmental, self-righteous way. We preachers are always reminded that when we point a finger at the congregation, there are three fingers, and a thumb, pointing back at us. That does not apply only to preachers. Think of your own reactions to people. They are not usually seeking our advice, but our friendship and our comfort. Remember that Job’s three friends did the best thing when they sat with him and kept their mouths shut. When they opened their mouths the whole thing fell apart. We would do well to remember that in all of our dealings with the world. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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