terrible comfort

 Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

Job 16:1-19:29
1 Corinthians 16:1-24
Psalm 40:1-10
Proverbs 22:1 

Let's look at Job. Job confronts his "friends" who have come to tell him that he's miserable only because he's done something wrong. If he'll just admit it and confess it, his life will get better again.

Job says, "You guys are terrible at comforting me." And there are many lessons to learn here. First, we should learn how to be a good comforter. When someone is in pain, whether they're physically ill, or they've lost a loved one, or their life is out of control, it's not usually the time for intricate theology. Explaining that God gave us free will and that's why people do bad things doesn't often help. What they need is a friend. They need someone to listen to their cries, to help with practical things, and to pray for them. But it's definitely NOT the time to do what Job's friends did: tell them that everything is bad because they've done something wrong.

The second thing we can learn is NOT to listen to bad advice. Job doesn't. He could have! He might have accepted that he had done something horrible and spent the rest of his life beating himself and trying to find what he did wrong. Instead, he does what all of us should do - he takes his thoughts and feelings directly to God. He says, "God, what's the deal??" And God tells him what the deal is.

So number one: learn to be a good comforter. Number two: don't take bad advice, even when it sounds like it might be true.

God, thanks for teaching us so much from one little verse.