Suffering alone is probably one of the hardest things to go through and can bring about the most hopeless feelings a person can experience.  Job’s loss and physical pain were great.  His three friends saw this and sat silently with him in his grief and pain.  They had no words.  And then Job speaks.  Cursing the day he was born and uttering his anguish.  His friend Zophar “rebuked” him, essentially telling him he should humbly repent of his sin. But Job was right in believing his sin had not produced his suffering. There was nothing for him to repent from. Remember that none of these men, not even Job himself, were privy to the exchange between God and Satan.   For Job to repent of a sin that caused this suffering would have been a lie.  He truly was “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1).   Therefore, he chose honest dialogue with God in the presence of his friends. Dialogue that made them uncomfortable and caused their eyes to widen in shock at his boldness and what they considered “idle” and prideful words.  The mission to comfort soon became a mission to correct, resulting in the false accusation that Job had surely sinned.

How can we apply this to our lives today?  May we open our eyes to see the suffering of those around us.  It is there and for some, it is great.  For some, the anguish is like that of Job’s and they feel completely hopeless.  May we seek to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2).  Maybe this means to sit with them in silence, provide a meal, clean their kitchen, or tend to their wounds.  It could mean babysitting for a tired momma or sitting with a terminally ill person to give some respite to the caregivers.  To comfort someone who is suffering will likely be uncomfortable and there may be no helpful words found. Simply to be present is often all that is needed and allow the Holy Spirit to correct and convict, if it’s necessary.