I will . . . not deal with you
according to your folly.
—Job 42:8
Job’s three friends heard about his troubles and came to console him. When they saw the intensity of his suffering, they wept and sat with him for a week without saying a word.
Their concern was comforting until they opened their mouths to expound their insight of the reasons for his woes. Their words only exacerbated his misery. In the end, God was on their case: “I am angry with you,” he said.
We should be sensitive and cautious when observing agony, for we are in danger of presumptuously offering simple solutions for painful problems.
The most helpful thing we can do is be supportive: “You’re going through a dark time. I have no answer as to why. Just know that I’m thinking of you, praying for you, and am here for you.”
Two kinds of people don’t say much:
those who are quiet and those who talk a lot.