11 When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. 12 When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.
Job 2:11-13
Dear God, I want to stop and give Job’s friends credit for their first seven days with him. “No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.” Then Job starts speaking in chapter 3 and this is when they make their mistake. They speak too hastily. To give them the benefit of the doubt, they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t realize that you consider their advice and counsel to be foolish. They think they are doing and saying the right things to Job. They think you will be happy with what they are telling him. “Hey, you must have done something wrong. Repent before God and it’ll all be good.” If only they had either remained silent and encouraged Job.
When I got married, I was the typical guy who thought he could solve all of his own problems and any problem his wife brought to him. My wife, within a year or two taught me to respond to her situations by saying, “That sucks.” Sometimes it requires an exclamation point: “That sucks!” But I’ve learned it’s almost always the right answer. I might have some counsel, but it better be really well thought out and, better yet, prayed over, but sometimes she just needs me to sit next to her and say, “That sucks.”
I was listening to the Bible in a year podcast I mentioned a couple of days ago this morning, and he was going over the story in Exodus of the burning bush. He mentioned that you had remembered the Israelites even when they didn’t know you remembered them. You were working on it. He talked about how we have challenges or even crises in our lives that demand our attention and prayer. And sometimes it feels like you aren’t hearing us at all. Sometimes we see no evidence. But you are always there. You always hear. You are working. We might not see it in the moment. We may never see it. But you are always there. And you might even be doing other things in our lives that are blessing us.
Right now, nine out of every ten things happening in my life are great. So much is going well. But there are a couple of things that divert my attention and dominate my prayers. And it can feel like you aren’t working and you don’t hear them. But I have enough experience with you to know that you are working in ways I can’t see. You are working things for the good of your plan and not mine. You remind me that I submitted my plans to you when I submitted to the cross. You remind me of things you’ve done for me in the past that I didn’t know you were doing at the time.
Father, right now, I have a friend who concerns me. He got a devastating medical diagnosis recently, and I’m not sure what you need him to have from me. Help me and guide me into being exactly what you need him to have from me. Of course, I have the things I pray continuously about. Show me what to do and what not to do. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage the change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Do it all for your glory, sweet Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
I pray all of this under the power and authority of my savior, Jesus,
Amen
Emails to God 