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 2:13 (NLT)]
When his life turned from riches to rags and all he loved and possessed (along with his health) was taken from him, Job’s friends came and silently sat with him on the ground for seven days. While this seems odd to us, it was perfectly normal in Job’s day. Seven days was the traditional mourning period and tradition held that those visiting a mourner weren’t to speak until the mourner spoke first. As it turned out, his friends’ compassionate silence was the kindest thing they did for Job. Things rapidly went downhill as soon as the three men opened their mouths!
Reflecting a sort of retribution theology—that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people—Job’s friends were sure that his troubles were divine retribution for his sins. Ignoring their knowledge of Job, a man Scripture described as “the finest man on earth…blameless…a man of integrity” who “fears God and stays away from evil,” they wanted him to repent of his unnamed sins so that God would stop punishing him. While Job’s friends were quick to accuse him of being an unrepentant sinner, there is no mention of them praying for or with him. In fact, in the end, it is Job who prays for them.
If Job were a friend of mine, his name would be on my prayer list; he’d fit right in with the rest of the names on it. There are people with depression, addictions, cancer, MS, Parkinson’s, heart disease, and dementia. There are caregivers, sick babies, parents of troubled children and children with troubled parents. Some are mourning the loss of loved ones while others are in recovery, hospice, or dire financial straits. There are people who have no faith and others who are struggling to keep their faith. Unlike Job’s friends, however, I don’t blame them for their troubles but, like Job’s friends, I do want their lives to improve. I want every one of them to be happy, healed, and whole. I want their issues resolved, their problems solved, their health restored, and their goals achieved.
Unfortunately, it is not my will that will be done—if it were, there would be “happily ever after” endings to all their stories. In the end, it is God’s plan that will prevail, not mine. Just as I don’t know the cause of my friends’ problems, I don’t know the solutions to their difficulties. Nevertheless, I do know the One who has the solutions to their trials and the answers to their questions. As believers, rather than trying to figure out what God should do, we must trust Him in the suffering, tragedies, and uncertainties of this life. God alone is the source of all wisdom. As we offer our intercessions, let us take comfort in Paul’s words that the Holy Spirit knows for what we should pray. While we may be at a loss for the right words, the Holy Spirit never is.
Heavenly Father, give us compassionate and understanding hearts for our hurting friends. Let us know when supportive silence is better than anything we could ever say to them. Help us focus our prayers on your will rather than our desires. Reassure those for whom we pray of your loving-kindness and strengthen their weary spirits. May they have peace in their circumstances, discover joy in their troubles, hear your voice clearly, follow your directions willingly, and be filled with hope for the future.
Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what he can do. [Andrew Murray]
After Israel accepted the Lord’s Covenant, Moses returned to the base of Mt. Sinai with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. It was then that every one of those men gazed upon the God of Israel from afar and ate a covenant meal in His presence. Before Moses departed to climb up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, he entrusted the Israelites to Aaron and the elders who then went back to their camp. Moses, accompanied by his servant/apprentice Joshua, climbed a short way up the mountain and a cloud covered it. The two men made camp and stayed there for the next six days. On the seventh day, God called to Moses from within the cloud and the Israelites’ leader disappeared into the mist.
Following Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostles met regularly at the Temple where they boldly preached and healed the sick. Alarmed at this turn of events, the high priest and his officials had the men put in jail. That night, an angel freed them and told the men to return to the Temple and speak to the people there.
The Resurrection story didn’t end on Easter with Jesus’ appearance to ten disciples, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and John, Salome, and Joanna, along with Cleopas and another believer who broke bread with Him in Emmaus. Appearing and disappearing at will, Jesus remained on earth for forty days. While He probably appeared other times, Scripture tells us He later appeared to Thomas and the ten others, to seven of the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee, to His half-brother James, to over 500 believers at one time, and to the disciples on his last day with them.
We once had neighbors who left our church for what I’ll call the “church of what’s happening now.” Its members have a variety of beliefs about God and, while they acknowledge a “higher power,” they do not share a concept of it. It could be God, a sacred force, or the spirit of life and there is no right or wrong way to understand Him, Her, or It. While some may regard Jesus as a great moral and spiritual leader or prophet (and possibly even supernatural), they don’t believe He was God and reject the Trinity. Theirs is an eclectic mix of beliefs with each person having his or her own personal truth. Embracing uncertainty, some believe there may be an afterlife and/or reincarnation but, for others, this life is all there is. Although they look to the Bible for wisdom, they also find spiritual inspiration in texts like the Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, and Tao Te-Ching. Our neighbors were loving caring people who believed in good things like justice, compassion, peace, protecting the environment, and the dignity of the individual. Nevertheless, while some of their thinking was correct, their conclusion was very wrong.
We know Jesus prayed all night before choosing His Apostles. What made Him select those twelve men for His inner circle? Perhaps Andrew and John, having previously been disciples of John the Baptizer, were primed for the arrival of the Messiah but why did Jesus choose Andrew’s brother Simon/Peter and John’s brother James? Jesus called John and James the “Sons of Thunder,” implying they were bold, rash, and quick to anger. Why would Jesus choose them rather than men more even-tempered and less impetuous? For that matter, why four fishermen instead of students of the Torah? You don’t have to know how to cast a net to go fishing for people!
Devotions of the Heart 