Encouraging Others

“Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.” Job 16:1-5

We know from the way the Lord described him in the opening chapter of the book that Job was a man of integrity, and perfect in all his ways. Yet these men who came to visit him were sure that God was chastising him for sins he had committed and if he would just repent the Lord would forgive him and make everything right. In Chapter 22, they accused him of taking away the clothing of the poor, forbidding food to the hungry, and refusing to help the widows and orphans.

Oxford Dictionary defines a friend as a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. It is someone willing to listen to us, and although they may not always agree, they are sympathetic and understanding. These so-called ‘friends’ of Job were acting more like his judges. He has had enough of their accusations and now tells them that he would not treat them the way they were treating him. Instead, he would speak words of strength and encouragement to them.

While we live in this world, we will face times of grief and sorrow, times when it seems that we are being tested beyond what we can bear. How wonderful it is to have friends and fellow believers that we can talk to and receive encouragement and comfort. God has placed us in His kingdom to lift one another up. We are to be encouragers and not accusers. We do not know when it will be our turn to go through a trial and need someone to encourage us.

II Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

I Thessalonians 5:11 “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”

As I have been reading this Book of Job, I have been asking myself the question, “What kind of friend am I?” When I see others going through problems or trials, do I judge them unfairly? Do I give them empty platitudes? “You need to trust the Lord that things are going to work out.” Or do I listen carefully to what they are saying, try to put myself in their shoes, feel what they are feeling, and ask the Lord to give me the wisdom to offer them the encouragement that they need?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you have been my comfort and my help in so many circumstances in my life. Help me to be an encouragement and comfort to others that you place in my path.

Devotion by Anne Johnston