Question: What does true friendship look like?

Text:

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Job 2:11-13)

Context, Context, Context: Always keep the big picture in mind. The big picture in Job is the question of the sovereignty of God, the so-called problem of evil, and what true faith looks like.

Job’s wife, bitter and shortsighted, told Job, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9b). How’s that for wifely counsel? Um, no thanks, ma’am. Impetuousness is unwise. Cursing God is foolish. Better to learn from God.

Sinners can deny God, curse God, and rebel against God, and more, but you cannot outrun God. Just ask Jonah. Job’s wife was a fool.

Friendship: But for a little while, Job’s three buddies were wise. Here’s what they did: they came alongside their friend. They didn’t sermonize (not yet, anyway). They didn’t lecture. They didn’t pretend to have it all figured out. They just were present with Job.

Encouragement: Have you ever been through a period in your life when what you needed most was just to know you weren’t alone, that you had a network of friends that came alongside you, and said (or just demonstrated without words) that they were there with you? I certainly have. And the value of those people is beyond words. Why? Because they just came alongside you.

As a little illustration just from my lane as a soldier, I do quite a bit of hiking and walking and jogging. I don’t like to run, but I have to do it. There are times when my lungs and knees scream at me: “Stop!” But you know what? It’s a lot easier to keep going when a buddy beside you says, “Come on; we’ve got this. Just one more mile.” And you know what? That mile is doable. You make it to the end and think, “Yep, we did it. Together.”