A New Lesson from Job

So I'm a day behind in my REAP for Bible study (REAP is an acronym for a Bible study method that our church has implemented). I read today from Job through Chapter 3, and as I was reading, verse 13 in chapter 2 really struck me. The reason it really stood out to me is because it says this: And they (Job's friends) 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.

Why should this have attention drawn to it? For me it was because it made me stop and realize that we usually hear what terrible friends Job had. They said stupid things to him about why he was suffering, and what he must have done to deserve what he was going through. But this particular verse revealed to me that Job's friends started off well. How? Well, they came to him when they heard the suffering he was enduring. Don't friends that care do that? Not only did they come to him during his time of affliction, they also sat with him for 7 days and 7 nights - one full week. How long do we stay with a friend in their grief? To top it off, they didn't start offering him pat condolences and sympathy - they sat in silence with him. You know, sometimes the best thing to say is to say nothing at all. In fact, they didn't say anything until after Job.

So it made me wonder: why do these guys always get so much crap for saying the wrong things (which they did), but no credit for being there in the first place and sitting with Job for those 7 days and nights. How awkward was that for them? What did they do? Can you imagine sitting in silence with someone for a whole week? I honestly cannot.

It also made me think about how God is always with us - especially in our grief and when we don't necessarily "hear" Him. He is still there, even if He is silent. He hasn't gone anywhere. Sometimes it's nice to just know He's there. And our friends, too. Sometimes we don't need them to say anything to us - we just need them to be there. And listen when we are ready to speak.