What Job’s Friends Teach Us About Helping Hurting People
I mean, think about Job, hand selected as the one human on earth to defeat the devil in the face of his temptations, under great distress, to represent what is good about humanity.
Job's So-Called Friends - How to Remain Helpful and Compassionate
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See the people in front of you
And when people are dealing with problems or loss or challenges, and we feel so certain we know exactly what needs to happen next, I want you to understand that your usefulness to God is not about nailing that every time, but it is about an awareness that says, I may not know how to handle this. And maybe I need to spend more time in humility and listening and being careful, and then I can do good for God, for others, and really for myself.
Our topic of study to investigate this is comparing ourselves, our lives, our interaction with other people to Job's friends.
What gets in the way
And while I think I'm pursuing the will of God, especially when I'm being adamant and unbending, I'm actually speaking against the true will of God because I'm speaking beyond the things that I know and I'm assuming things. And my bias is directing the path more than I'm willing to admit.
This is dangerous when it has to do with how you see God and how you worship and honor God, but it can become almost catastrophic when you're talking to other people, people that you disagree with, people who don't see things the way you do, which was the case with Job and these three friends, and yet you're so adamant and you're so sure and you need to be careful.
A more loving response
Here's this principle about Jesus, and that means this rule stands in this specific 21st century setting. But they were so sure that their application of principle was just as much God's law as the principle itself, and that we need to be careful about.
The application to a specific setting that God has not told us about, well, that's a different thing.
Practice this with others
And in Job 42, God explicitly says, You have not spoken what is right about me, though they would have bet a million dollars or a thousand talents or whatever gold bars they had, that they were speaking precisely what God wanted. And here's the thing at the end they needed humility to understand that they only know what they know, that they apply as they apply, but that they're not the standard, they're not the rule maker, they don't run the show.
God is bigger and more beautiful and can do things beyond their comprehension, and hence it should have made them more compassionate listeners, more careful appliers, and just more supportive.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Where do I see the problem or opportunity described in “What Job’s Friends Teach Us About Helping Hurting People” in my own life?
- 02What Scripture or spiritual principle in this study most needs my attention?
- 03What one specific change can I make this week to put this teaching into practice?
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