Job 6:14: “To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, / Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”

December 1st, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Job rebuked his friend Eliphaz in this chapter because Eliphaz believed Job was suffering because he had sinned. Job argued that even if he had forsaken God (which he hadn’t), true friends should still show some kindness. He questioned how Eliphaz could keep pushing the attack against Job. Today we might say something like, “Cut me some slack.” Job made it clear that he would listen to his friends if their advice was good, but what kind of friend only argues, attacks, and condemns? When we suffer, we need words of comfort not words of condemnation.

In the New Testament, we are commanded to become a source of comfort to those who are suffering. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians to be like God “who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:4). The Greek word Paul uses for tribulation means “narrow, confined under pressure or to be hemmed in by difficult circumstances.” After we have been under these stresses and God has brought encouragement to us, then we have an obligation to do the same for others. Our own suffering directly benefits those we serve.

Oswald Chambers said:

Suffering is the heritage of the bad, of the penitent, and of the Son of God. Each one ends in the cross. The bad thief is crucified, the penitent thief is crucified, and the Son of God is crucified. By these signs we know the widespread heritage of suffering.

“LORD, use us today to bring words of comfort and healing to someone else who is on the road of suffering.”