The Struggle Is Real: How to Walk With Someone Who Is HurtingSample

You Never Know

When Eliphaz, Bildad, and Shophar saw their friend Job in pain, they sat down and grieved with him… at first. What they could have seen as an opportunity to encourage Job turned into a chance to fill in the blanks of Job’s situation with their own assumptions.

From Job 4 to Job 37 (that’s over THIRTY chapters), Job’s friends went back and forth listing reasons they believed Job was going through this incredibly hard season. Long story short? They claimed Job must have committed some terrible sin and was being punished. Not exactly the type of encouragement you hope to receive from the people you call your friends.

When we assume bad things only happen to bad people and let that belief guide our interactions, we actually bring more hurt than help. Even though we might have good intentions, all our friends and loved ones will hear is our judgment. We must avoid filling in the gap between someone’s grief and our limited understanding with our own ideas.

The crazy thing about Job’s situation was that it wasn’t a punishment at all. As wild as it sounds, the Bible is very clear that God ALLOWED and CHOSE Job to experience this trial because He trusted Job to stand strong in his faith.

It’s not for you to decide why someone is going through a hard season. None of us really know what’s going on in someone’s life or what God might be up to. What you might think is a punishment might actually be a sign of God’s deep trust.

Challenge: When have you been quick to judge someone else for a hard time they were going through? Have you ever been judged for something out of your control? What ways can you practice showing love first instead of speaking judgment?