Job continues his tortured comments. He does not know why all of this has happened to him and his friends are certainly no comfort. Each of them takes their shot at Job, certain that he has some dark, secret sin that makes these troubles justified retribution.

One thing Job gets right as he reflects on his struggle in these chapters: life is short or, as Job says it, “few of days.”

Sometimes I live as if I have all the time in the world. Squandering opportunities. Choosing the junk food of life. How much more would I accomplish for the Kingdom of God if I realized the brevity of life? How much of a blessing would I be to my family, neighbors, and the world at large if I seized every opportunity to live to the fullest for the glory of God?

Job expressed what I think perhaps many people feel when they are struggling with difficult circumstances. He said, “I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock” (Job 12:4). These friends offer nothing of real encouragement. Job, who apparently had enjoyed a close and open relationship with God, now feels shut out and isolated. All of his religious talk in the past seems to have done him no good. “Everyone’s laughing at me now.”

As we read his story through the ages, no one is laughing at Job. We suffer with him. We admire the “patience of Job.” We might scoff at his friends, but we remember the righteousness of Job.

Perhaps I need to remember that when I see someone struggling, my best response is to enter into suffering with them.

Doug