*Scripture: Job 16:1-22 (NKJV)* 1 Then Job answered and said: 2 "I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all! 3 Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? 4 I also could speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul's place. I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you; 5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.
6 "Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; And if I remain silent, how am I eased? 7 But now He has worn me out; You have made desolate all my company. 8 You have shriveled me up, and it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me and bears witness to my face. 9 He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. 10 They gape at me with their mouth, they strike me reproachfully on the cheek, they gather together against me. 11 God has delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over to the hands of the wicked. 12 I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, 13 His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. 14 He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior. 15 I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, and laid my head in the dust. 16 My face is flushed from weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; 17 Although no violence is in my hands, and my prayer is pure. 18 "O earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no resting place! 19 Surely even now my witness is in heaven, and my evidence is on high. 20 My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God. 21 Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbor! 22 For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return." *Devotion* How do you comfort the one who is suffering? Job's friends are an example of what not to do. "Miserable comforters are you all!" They kept telling him he must have sinned against God and needed to repent of whatever it was, and that if he did, then his suffering would be taken away. The first problem with their "comfort" is that they could not identify any specific sin for which he ought to repent. The second problem is that even repentance does not necessarily bring an end to earthly suffering. So how do you comfort the sufferer? If there is indeed some obvious sin that has been committed--something identified by God's Word as sin--and if there is clear evidence of impenitence, then restore the one who is suffering by pointing out the sin "in a spirit of gentleness." Then direct the penitent to the Sacraments for God's comfort. The answer is in what Job yearned for: "Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbor!" Job yearned for an advocate, for a mediator between God and man. We have such an Advocate and Mediator, Christ Jesus. He, like us, suffered when He was tempted. He suffered pain and loss and anguish of soul, as we do. Now He sits at God's right hand, our Brother who sympathizes with us in our weakness and intercedes for us. The comfort for the one who is suffering is that we have in Christ an Advocate who pleads for us unceasingly. Call Send SMS Add to Skype You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype
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