by Sean Blackburn
To be human is to suffer. It’s all around us. If we are not in the midst of suffering, chances are we know someone who is. But how are we supposed to respond when we see others who are suffering?
The story of Job in the Bible tells us about a man named Job who had everything: family, wealth, land; he had it all in abundance. And then, in the course of a day, he loses it all. All his wealth is taken by robbers, his land is scorched by a fire, and all his children die in freak accidents; and to make things worse, Job develops bad boils on his skin all over his body; even his good health has been taken from him. Job is suffering on an unimaginable scale!
When word gets out about what has happened to Job, three of his friends get the news and respond. Here’s what the text says:
11When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. 12When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. 13Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, they saw that his suffering was too great for words.
When Job’s three friends heard that Job was in pain they traveled to see him, grieved with him, and sat with him in his pain. Verse 13 tells us that they didn’t say a word to him for 7 days.
The story of Job’s three friends reminds us that there is such a thing as a ministry of presence. When it comes to comforting a grieving loved one, sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. Instead of answers, sometimes what the grieving person needs is simply for someone to sit with them in their grief so that they’re not alone in those painful feelings.
Sometimes we can be guilty of pretending to know why God has allowed a loved one to suffer the way that they are. We speak for God as if we were defending Him and His actions. As a brother in Christ, I want to lovingly remind you that God has not hired you to be His personal defense attorney, nor does He need one. God is perfectly capable of hearing our cries and difficult questions; and He is more than capable of defending Himself.
Instead of speaking for God, perhaps we can strive to be an extension of God. The God who became human, suffered amongst us, and sat with us in our pain. He is a God of comfort and healing; and He doesn’t have to be speaking to do that.