Thurs.’s Devo - “Fixing” Our Friends

Read: Job 17-20
Job considers all his friends have said about him and talks to God about death. Death is bad for everyone but the one who has clean hands. He shall be stronger and stronger.
Bilhad, who had been encouraging in his first speech turns to condemnation in his second. I wonder if he is frustrated that Job’s condition has not changed and thinks that it’s got to be Job’s fault. He gives a great description of the evil man and his plight…insinuating this is Job’s plight also. Do we get frustrated when we see people in the same place they were last year and want to condemn them because they aren’t fixed yet? God works from the inside out and sometimes it takes a while before we see the fruits of what is happening inside.
Job complains of this friends unkind words and lack of encouragement. Shouldn’t they encourage a friend who is down instead of adding to his sorrow? He believed that God was the author of his trials. His hope lay in the resurrection of the dead.
Zophar has had an epiphany and wants to share it. He speaks of how sin is fun for a short season but the end will be destruction. He still believes Job to be a hypocrite.
What I learn from Job is that when someone is suffering you need to pray and ask God how to comfort. It is not our job to condemn or fix them. That is the job of the Holy Spirit and he is better at it than us.
Lord, help us to be encouragers to those who are cast down.