BEING THERE FOR SOMEONE IN NEED

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Job 2:11-13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Job was afflicted terribly. His body was covered with sores from the “soles of his feet to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7), sores that peeled, festered, oozed and blackened on Job’s skin. He sat in the ashes and scraped himself with a piece of broken pottery. The misery he was in had to be almost unbearable.

And this wasn’t all Job was dealing with. As this book opened, we read how Job lost all his livestock and then all his children in several separate incidents. The loss was unbelievable and the grief had to be nearly unbearable. That would have been enough for a person to have to deal with but when you add the excruciatingly painful sores, it is amazing that Job was able to maintain his faith. He was undergoing the ultimate test…one that I’m not sure I would have handled that well.

As we read the final verses of Chapter 2, Job is sitting alone on the ground. His children were gone and his wife was of no encouragement to him. In fact, you’ll recall she attempted to have Job give up his integrity and curse God…a request that Job rebutted asking his wife if we aren’t to accept trouble from God as much as we accept good. She obviously didn’t stand by him as we won’t read of her sharing any further dialogue with her husband for the remainder of the book.

And so Job sat alone, hurt and suffering. Maybe you’ve been there. I know I have.

We may not have been covered in oozing, festering sores but most of us have gone through some kind of hardship that has left us alone and feeling isolated. When I experienced a betrayal in my first marriage, I was left awash in loneliness. My wife was gone and my children with her, living with someone I didn’t know…right next door to me. I was hurt and scarred beyond belief but rather than try and find someone to help me, I instead isolated and insulated myself from others. It was easier to sink into the miry pit of despair and depression than to try and seek someone to help pull me out. Serving on a ship at the time, my shipmates didn’t know what to do for me. And because I wasn’t willing to talk about my feelings in the midst of the pain I was going through, they just avoided me.

Thank goodness Job didn’t have friends like that.

For we read that “when Job’s three friends, Eliphaz…, Bildad…and Zophar…, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.” These friends could have stayed home and not gotten involved. They had their own lives to live. But true friends aren’t like that. They will come to the aid of their friend when needed.  Proverbs 17:17 easily sums up the meaning of a true friend saying, “A friend loves at all times…”. Jesus took it to another level when He said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Job’s three friends obviously loved him and were not willing to leave him alone during a time he was in need.

And so the three friends traveled to where Job lived. They couldn’t have been prepared for what they saw when they got there. For the sores had disfigured Job so much, his friends couldn’t “hardly recognize him” as they saw him from a distance. The sight of their friend in such a state was more than the friends could bear. For we read where “they began to weep aloud”, tearing their robes and sprinkling dust on their heads while assuming a posture of mourning and grief with their friend.

Sometimes we can experience great suffering and pain indirectly as someone we love is afflicted. It happens when a person close to us is afflicted with a disease or injury. It also happens when someone we’re close to suffers a broken relationship or loses a loved one. Anguish and distress isn’t always just local. It often times radiates out to impact others. Such was the case with Job’s friends.

So what did they do in the midst of their hurt, seeing their friend in such a terrible state?

They sat on the ground and remained with him in silence, realizing that Job was suffering so much. And they just didn’t sit there for a few hours but rather for “seven days and seven nights”. Have you ever done this? It was an incredible vigil and show of support for a friend who was hurting.

As we’ll see through the remainder of this book, Job’s friends weren’t perfect but then again, who is? But what we do see as we’re introduced to them is a glimpse into their root character and a view into how we always should be willing to be there for someone in need.

Let’s summarize what we learned.

First, true friends will go to be with their friends when the need arises. When my father passed away, I was at the funeral home when I received news that there were several Navy men outside who were looking for me. As I walked outside, there was my Executive Officer, Leading Master Chief, and two Chief Selectees (now Chiefs) standing there. They had left the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, Maryland, and flew to a small airport around 15 miles from my hometown. They then drove in to be there the day of the funeral. I’ll never forget that…how four Shipmates took the time to travel and be with me when I needed them. In our scripture, Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, left everything at home behind to go to be with their friend…a friend who needed them…a friend who would have been alone otherwise.

Second, we learned that true friends will mourn with their suffering mate. Job’s three friends wept and entered into a state of mourning with their friend. Job’s suffering, once solitary, was now shared. And although Job remained silent, I can’t help but think he was encouraged by his friends coming to be with him when he needed them most.

Finally, we see where we need to be there for someone in need. Often times, I have had the chance to just sit with someone who was going through a painful time in their life. All that person needed was someone to sit and listen to them, to allow them to vent and get their pent up emotions out. During these times, I have felt as if I was like a sponge absorbing the hurt of another. But that would have never happened if I wasn’t willing to sit and listen. Job didn’t say a word but that was fine. His friends were not going to leave him.

Friends, we know that God is ever with us. It’s one of the absolute truths we have to hold onto. But sometimes our pain from hardship can be so great that we tend to forget God is still there. When He is closest to us, we sometimes feel like He is most distant. True friends can close that gap and that’s exactly what Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did.

Do you know someone in need today?

If you haven’t already, go to them, be there for them, and do what true friends do.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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