DAY 136, or May the sixteenth.
No one is immune to bad things.
Our thoughts today are from Job chapter 2 verse 11.
When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite,
heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and
met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.
Another big picture surrounding this verse.
We take a big step backwards as we begin to consider the book of Job.
The previous seventeen books of the Bible are the history of God's people, the Jews,
from creation to their downfall and exile in a foreign land.
Today we are looking at a book that many scholars believe to be the oldest in the whole Bible.
And which probably falls in between Genesis chapters 11 and 12, if we think in date order.
Job addresses the age-old problem of why good people suffer, and at the same time wicked
people thrive.
The story line begins with a jaw-dropping conversation between God and Satan.
Before putting this down as an obvious fictional tale, we need to remember that Jesus had personal
encounters with the devil when he was here on earth.
So Jesus himself confirms the idea of an individual devil.
God gives Satan permission to attack Job, but forbids his death.
Job finds these attacks hard to bear, and wishes he had never been born.
And now today's action step.
Job's three friends come from different places and cultures, but they agreed to visit Job
in order to sympathize with him and comfort him.
It all went well until they started speaking.
When we want to comfort a friend in time of trouble, often the worst thing we can do is
to give them the benefit of our wise counsel.
Usually just being there is enough.
Giving the correct answers is all too often counterproductive, as they probably know them
already.
A warm touch or an encouraging nod can be far more helpful.
Remember this when you next try to sympathize with someone.