Comforting a friend.

Do you ever feel like when a friend/family member is in times of trouble and pain, you never know the words to say? I’m not great at comforting people. I rarely show emotion and don’t ever seem to have the right words to say. I usually end up cracking a joke to lighten the mood because tension and sadness makes me uncomfortable. I had to chuckle a little when reading Job 16. Up to this point in the last few chapters his friends have been trying to convince him that his sin was at fault for all his ailments. They thought if he just asked forgives for his sin, all the bad things would stop happening to him. They said, surely he was cursed! But he wasn’t cursed and his sin wasn’t leading to all the hurt and pain. It was the devil and his attacks that were causing the hurt and pain. After his friends tried convincing him everything was happening because of his sin, Job replied in 16:1

 

“I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you!”

 

That would be something my friends would say to me, letting me know I’m miserable at making others feel better. I especially love vs. 4,

 

“I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you.”

 

I think more often than not we find ourselves giving advice to people on what they should/shouldn’t do instead of just praying, listening and offering good support. I know I’m guilty of that too. I want to learn as the bible says to be quick to listen and slow to speak. I want to be wise in my words and if I’m just spewing advice without praying and listening first, my words may just be clashing symbols that don’t have weight or power behind them. I need to focus on being more like Job than his friends and I need to work on being a better comforter. Maybe that’s a lesson we can all learn.