Miserable comforters

What does misery and comfort have in common? Those two words are so incompatible that you could never use them together.

But Job is forced to use “miserable” as an adjective to describe his friends’ attempt at being comforters. They tried to comfort their friend Job, but it was a failed attempt.

They were busy trying to show how he is to blame for his own troubles. But Job claims innocence. He said he has done nothing to deserve such deep and horrible troubles.

When Job’s friends first came to visit, they did the right thing. They saw the horrible condition of his friend and sat with him in silence for seven days.

“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 2:12-13).

That’s the right way to respond to someone facing tragedy.

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