You are miserable
comforters, all of you! Will your longwinded speeches never end?
Job 16:2–3
“Everything happens for a reason.” “Whatever doesn’t kill you
makes you stronger.” “All things work together for good.” “Just keep trusting
God and moving forward.” Drew and Bethany heard all these statements during
their long struggle with infertility. But as Bethany said, “After yet another
miscarriage, I didn’t want to hear words. I just wanted someone to be in the
sadness with me without trying to explain it away.”
We’ve read several passages from Job, and our reading today
focuses on God’s assessment of Job’s friends. When they heard about Job’s
suffering, the three friends went to comfort him. They spent seven days and
nights sitting with him in silence (2:11–13). Then Job began to cry out about
his pain, and his friends began to lecture him in response.
What’s interesting about their speeches is how theologically
accurate they are. Eliphaz describes the sovereign, saving power of God
(4:8–21). Zophar proclaims the unfathomable omnipotence of God (11:7–9). Bildad
asserts, “Dominion and awe belong to God” (25:2). Yet in today’s reading God
thunders at these friends: “You have not spoken the truth about me, as my
servant Job has” (v. 7).
The problem wasn’t their theology. It was their attempt to
transform facts about God into easy answers about why Job was suffering. They
wanted to talk about God; Job was talking to God. They wanted to solve the
problem; God wanted them to comfort Job with their presence. It turns out that
no matter what facts they knew about God, they didn’t know God’s heart and
character.
Comfort does not come
from a theology lecture; it comes from weeping with the one in pain. It comes
from being willing to sit with someone, bearing witness that God has sent
someone who cares.
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