Job 2:12-13 When they looked from a distance and did not recognise him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe, and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Every time I read these words, Job's friends remind me of how we too can be there for our friends when they are going through difficult times.
But even with that being said, I want to remind you of the greater privilege that we have compared to Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, because you and I can be there for our friends and support them in Christ!
Now for 7 whole days, we get to witness how Job's 3 buddies were able to stand and support Job without one word being spoken, yet sadly, just a week later, they became impatient with Job’s misery and complaints, and their responses were pretty much the same as many people to this day who respond towards others in pain and their struggle: "We wonder what Job did wrong to go through such turmoil."
More than half of the book of Job is a dialogue between Job and his friends judging each other. That's why I want to remind you of the privileged we have who are in Christ when we get to be there for our friends when they are in misery, for instead of condemning them, we get to serve and uplift them in Christ.
Let's not make the mistake of Job's friends getting overwhelmed by their friend’s grief and twisted perception, for they didn’t even realise that they started to judge their friend instead of ministering to him. We have the privilege of looking at Job's friend's reaction and, in contrast to that, Jesus' reaction to His friends and their struggles and can choose to follow His example. Jesus' attitude should reign in us as friends towards others.
Job’s friends remind me of how our zeal and our love and care for others can be sincere, yet carried out wrongly, whilst true friendship through the guidance and sensitivity of the Holy Spirit is without judgement yet service in truth.
In the 3 years that Jesus ministered with His disciples day in and day out, He always prayed for them, stood by them and encouraged and admonished them in truth, despite their unbelief and mistakes and twisted perceptions.
That’s why we get to enter each day with gratitude, knowing that the Holy Spirit can use us as a friend in Christ who intercedes and lifts others up by standing by them in truth.
May our words and deeds, but also our silence, always treat others to encounter Christ in their despair.
Amen