Miserable Comforters

“Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.” Job 16:1-5

Job had lost everything he owned. His ten children had died, his body had been racked with a terrible disease, and his wife had told him that he should curse God and die. After all of this pain and suffering, Job’s three friends came to visit him. When they saw his condition, they sat down with him for seven days without saying anything. When they finally spoke, they began to accuse Job of doing something to bring this upon himself. They were convinced that no one could be subjected to so much suffering unless he had done something terribly wrong. Each of them took a turn at trying to convince Job that there must be something in his life that God wanted him to change. Job told them that they were miserable comforters. Assigning blame did nothing to diminish Job’s heartache and pain. They were supposed to be his friends. Job said that if their situations were reversed, he would have spoken comforting words to them that would have lessened their grief. It seems that Job’s friends would have been better off if they had said nothing at all. God was working in Job’s life, and they did not understand what was happening. Sometimes just our presence is enough.