“But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.” (Job 5:8)
Job’s “friend” Eliphaz tries to counsel Job in his suffering, but in doing so he only compounds the problem. Though he has plenty of theological answers, he shows a serious lack of spiritual sensitivity. Rather than encouraging Job, his words put Job down further than he already is.
We need to exercise great caution with people who are suffering. We need to resist the temptation to tell them what we would do if we were in their shoes. The truth is, we have no idea what we would do in any given situation.
The Greek poet Aeschylus once wrote -
“It is an easy thing for one whose foot is on the outside of calamity to give advice and to rebuke the sufferer.”
And often, the easy thing to do is the most damaging.
It’s so hard to stop and hold our tongues from offering advice–we want to solve the problem. We want it to all work out. But often, we just need to let them know we care and offer our support—while simply saying, “I don’t have the answers”. Difficult, but necessary at times!