If you put away
the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, . . . you
will stand firm without fear
(Job 11:14,15).
Job’s friend Zophar
probably meant well and genuinely cared for his friend. We can forgive his
ignorance in that he was simply going along with accepted understandings of how
things worked. Again, popular thought said, Do right and you’ll
prosper; do wrong and you’ll suffer. Obviously
since so many things were going wrong for Job, he must have done something
really bad.
Zophar and the
others just couldn’t conceive of a righteous man suffering the way Job was.
They saw his pain and wanted it to stop. They were doing what they thought was
best. If they could get Job to confess his sin and abandon his claims of
innocence, then his life and fortunes could be restored.
Maybe you’ve
experienced the pain of well meaning friends adding insult to injury in their
awkward attempts to minister to you in a time of suffering. How many platitudes
and clichés have been offered grieving parents at the loss of a child, or to a
friend who’s been diagnosed with cancer? Statements like: “Take comfort
that this is God’s will,” or “If you just confess the sin in your life God will
surely heal you,” don’t do anyone any
good.
Let’s not inflict
further pain with careless words. Ask God to give you the right words to say
when a friend is hurting, or just be there for them with the grace to say
nothing at all.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
What would you say to a
hurting friend? What would you want them to say to you?
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