Have you ever heard of the term frienemy? It is a combination of friend and enemy. Do you have any of these?
My daily Bible reading has just started Job. We all know that satan was allowed to take everything away from Job except his life. satan was limited by God. Did God know what Job could withstand? I think so.
It is interesting to me the family and friends that were around Job. When his wife saw how bad his sores were and that he was scraping them with a piece of pottery, she told him to just go ahead and curse God and die. She was not a support for him. Sounds like she didn’t marry him ‘in sickness and in health,’ does it? Maybe that is why satan didn’t kill her too.
But what I noticed most is Job’s friends coming to him when they heard he was sick and about all that had happened to him. In Job 2 it says:
And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
Do you have any friends like this? Do you have any friends who would come to you when they hear about your calamity? Do you have any friends who care enough to weep with you and would be so distressed for you they would pour dust on their heads. And mostly, do you have any friends who would just sit with you during your suffering, not saying one single word….for 7 days and nights?
I am honestly not sure I do. I can probably say a family member or two might. Maybe I can think of one or two friends who would consider it. And if I’m honest, I’m not sure I would do that for very many people either.
When Job’s friends did begin to speak, they weren’t very supportive. They wondered what sin he had done to deserve this. It’s like they became his enemies. It’s the last thing Job needed at that time.
It’s amazing to me how many times our friends can be the worst to be around us. People who are supposed to love us unconditionally but only end up accusing us. And how many times have I not been the friend someone needed? Probably more than I know.
But…
What a Friend We Have in Jesus! (This is a longer video but worth the watching!)