In Job, here are at least two issues before us: First, why do good people suffer? Second, will a righteous person serve God for nothing? I believe Job more appropriately deals with the last of these two questions, and the answer, in Job’s case, is “yes.” Satan believed even a good man would abandon his goodness if trouble, with no end in sight, came upon him.
Satan has been right a lot of times in this matter, but as we shall see in this book, he was not right about Job.
In his misery, three friends come to sit with Job, and they are so overcome with grief at the sight of their friend’s plight that they sit in silence for three days. It’s the only thing they did right. Too often, faced with tragedy, we want to say something that will bring comfort – to find meaning in randomness, defend God’s lack of response. But in reality, what people need is a hug, a shoulder, care, love. Words, more often than not, just hurt – even unintentionally. If God didn’t speak to you personally to explain the unexplainable, don’t guess at it.
Just.
Be.
Quiet.