Hope in the Darkness: Walking Through Pain with Others
With friends like that, who needs enemies? Initially I suppose Job’s friends thought that they were helping Job in his season of suffering. After all, good friends show up. And when they sat with him in silence, it was likely very comforting to Job. But when they started their questioning and offered their opinions on how he got into such trouble, their helpfulness simply turned to hurtfulness.
The sting of pain from the relentless advice-giving from Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar was likely worse because of the wounds that came from Job’s wife’s reaction at the sudden loss of their wealth and children. In fairness to Job’s wife, hurting people sometimes hurt others, and Job’s loss was also her loss.
Job’s wife encouraged Job to simply “curse God and die.” Job refused and posed this question to his bride:
“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”
The scriptures agree with Job’s approach. The author tells us that, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
But things got more intense with the friends in the following chapters. The friends and Job went round and round and in chapters 16 and 17 we find the intensity of Job’s despair. Here are a few painful and desperate words from Job:
“Miserable comforters are you all.”
“Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company.”
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.”
“My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’ If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?”
The sores on Job’s skin oozed, but the intensity of his pain was an overwhelming flood.
The book of Job is one of the five books of poetry in the Old Testament scriptures. Of the five, Proverbs and Job are considered to be books of wisdom. We easily see Proverbs as wisdom literature, with its many chapters and verses of practical advice that guides us to make good decisions in nearly every category or life, including our marriages, our parenting, our sexual relationships, our friendships, our business dealings, and our finances.
But Job doesn’t offer many quotable tips in these areas. What it does do is remind us that in a fallen world, even those who follow the wisdom of God that flows from Proverbs and other scriptures will at times experience real hardships they did not create. The wisdom of Job shows us that there is a way to navigate pain, remain faithful, and still be a witness to God’s kindness and mercy.
One of the wonderful promises we have from Romans is that God meets us in our weakness. Not only does he meet us, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. What a great comfort to know even in our darkest hours that we are not alone.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27 ESV)
We all go through hard times, and sometimes we or people we know will experience very harsh realities that seem to compare to the horrible times Job experienced. Just think of all the tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and the total losses of property and the accompanying loss of family and businesses. In this fallen world there is devastation.
Another lesson we can learn from the wisdom of Job is how to be a real friend to those in horrible situations. Jesus said that greater love has no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. We don’t need to have all the answers, and we may not have all the resources to turn someone’s situation around. But we can offer our presence, our prayers, and through the Holy Spirit we offer a love that will not let go.
Father, thank you for the scriptures that encourage us and remind us of your love for us. Thank you for reminding us in your word that we live in a fallen world that often results in unexpected challenges. Increase our faith to trust you in the hard moments and to be genuine friends to those who are experiencing harsh realities. Help us to learn to listen, to be present, to pray, and to love others the way that you love us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Job 16:2-7, 18-22, 7:1-5, 8-16; John 15:13 ESV
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