Daily Devotions
What Not to Say When Someone Is Suffering
Title: What Not to Say When Someone Is Suffering
Reading for May 28: Job 5-8
"Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good."
Job 5:27
If there's anything we learn from the book of Job, it's what NOT to say when someone is going through suffering.
It's so frustrating listening in to these conversations. Job's friends are merciless in their attack on his character. Their assumption, of course, is that God is in control of all things (which he is) and thus if someone is suffering it must be the result of sin.
But we know better. The beginning of this book removes all doubt about Job's righteousness and God's evaluation of him.
What do I learn from Job's friends? I learn that there is a lot I don't know. I learn that when someone is going through a hard time I should be careful about judging them. I learn that it's probably best to just listen and comfort instead doing a lot of talking and dispensing ignorant advice.
Father, help us to comfort those who are suffering with the understanding that we don't know the cause of suffering in most circumstances.
