Job's Friends

I have so many thoughts twirling around in my head about Job's friends! Hopefully they'll make sense!

There is quite a bit of discussion in Dr. Henry M. Morris' book (The Remarkable Record of Job) about Job's friends. Job himself calls them "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2). What a group they were. The Bible doesn't tell us how long it took for these men to arrive, but by the time they reached Job, they didn't even recognize him! But their next move is what really hurts - they sat and stared at Job for SEVEN days without saying a word!! I'm starting to think that one of Job's friends originated the phrase "misery loves company!"

As I have thought about Job's friends, I've thought about the kind of comforters I have met in life. None have sat and stared at me for seven days, but there have been a few that with just a few words have brought miserable comfort.

There are times when a friend or loved one is in a difficult situation and we really don't know what to say. A good first choice is "I'm praying for you" (and mean it!) "I'm sorry for your loss." "I'm sorry you are going through such a difficult time." Those are words that have brought comfort to me. Not once did Job's friends offer to pray for him - they only offered "solutions".

The next actions of Job's friends truly shows their humanity. They each try to figure out why all of this has happened to Job, coming to one conclusion - Job has sinned. Surely if Job was upright, terrible things wouldn't happen in his life. His friends may have thought, "If Job is upright as he maintains, then we could experience calamity as well."

It's the age old discussion. Why do bad things happen to good people? I wrote about it some in my post about my beloved brother, Rod. Why would a little boy be born with hemophilia, spending a lifetime in pain?

As difficult as it is for us to grasp, the only answer is because God is God. Job states in chapter 21, verse 22: "Shall any teach God knowledge?" When the Lord begins speaking in Job, He spends most of those chapters devoted to His creation and power. There were times when Mom gave the response, "because I said so." Just as a parent has the right to "say so", so it is with God. His ways are far above our ways. But He is God. "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?"

In John chapter 9, the disciples asked, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Again we see mankind (the disciples in this case) trying to blame an illness on sin.

The responses to my post about Rod were overwhelming. His life of just 31 years was remarkable and he left an impact on many lives. God knew that a boy with hemophilia would be an overcomer through Jesus Christ, and He used that for His glory.

My final conclusion: Trust. God has our best interest in mind, always, even when it hurts. Whether our reward is on earth "the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before" or "great is your reward in heaven", trusting God through each day is truly the only way to live. As James records, "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord: that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." We can trust in our Creator's tender mercy.

Sure, it takes a lot of courage

To put things in God's hands,
To give ourselves completely,
Our lives, our hopes, our plans,
To follow where He leads us
And make His will our own,
But all it takes is foolishness
To go the way alone.

- Mom's Bible