My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed. Job 20:2, NIV

 

When you consider that our verse today is taken from the oldest book in the Bible, wasn’t Solomon right when he observed, “that there is nothing new under the sun”? (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

 

Yesterday, as we reflected on the depth of suffering in the book of Job, didn’t we feel ‘troubled’ by Job’s experiences, especially as we confronted the endless nature of his suffering as he endured pain upon pain, in God’s apparent absence? We’ve all felt the pain and loneliness of loss, and of not understanding why.

 

Job needed time to come to terms with his grief and loss, and the ear of a compassionate soul when he needed to speak; someone who cared and would be a comfort to a bereft man covered in painful sores, living a bleak life with a callous wife.

 

Alienated from a life that was once full, Job would certainly agree with Mother Teresa’s view that, “Loneliness and the feeling of being uncared for and unwanted are the greatest poverty.” Job’s experiences had left him impoverished and in need of hope. Hope appeared in the form of his three friends who’d “met together by agreement to go and sympathise with him and comfort him.” (Job 2:11)

 

They were horrified by what had happened to their friend, hardly recognising him at first, but patiently and silently, they sat with him, “for seven days and seven nights” (Job 2:13) respecting Job’s need for peace to work through his grief and loss; and, keeping him company.

 

Finally, Job spoke; and pouring out his anguished thoughts, released each man’s verdict of him. Gone was their empathy, Job’s needs forgotten, as each friend, without reflection, pronounced his ready judgement on Job’s suffering, further alienating him, and increasing his sorrow as they decided that he was to blame – as a direct result of his sin – and that he needed to repent for God to restore him.

 

Eliphaz tells him, “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so, do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.” (Job 5:17) Bildad insults him with “Your words are a blustering wind …” and then, cruelly, “When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.” (Job 8:2b,4) Lastly, Zophar’s words added to the attack: “Oh how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom …” (Job:11 5-6a)

 

What about us?

 

What are our words to a friend in need? Do we help others with our words and actions, prompted by love after mindful self-reflection, or do “[our] troubled thoughts prompt [us] to answer because [we are] greatly disturbed” like Zophar? We need to ask God for help and divine insight because we don’t have all the answers.

 

Prayer: Father God, thank you for what You show us of ourselves through Job and his friends, and for what You teach us through them. Help me to respond with compassion to others in need, not motivated by my own anxiety, but in the power of the wisdom, You give, which will lighten their mind and bring joy to their heart. Amen