Helping Others During Trials

Helping Others During Trials

"Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was."
Job 2:13

This past week I received an e-mail from one of my readers telling me that their young son had just died from cancer, and they were asking for prayers. It is difficult to know what to say to someone in this situation, as we cannot imagine the thoughts that are going on in their minds, as to why God was allowing this to happen. In the Book of Job we can see how some of his friends comforted him during the time God was testing him. They were also concerned about Job and just spent time sitting with him in silence. Job knew that they cared for him, and that they did not know how to comfort him, other than to be there with him. When we look further into Job's suffering, we see other friends that were giving him advice, telling him to renounce God, as that would stop his suffering. We have to be careful as to how we comfort people, and not give them wrong counsel. If you are watching a friend go through a difficult trial in their lives, you need to pray for the wisdom on how to help them. It is not our place to give them our personal counsel or guidance. Our role as their friend is to intercede in prayer for them, and to help them in the ways that God is leading us to help them. We need to remember that God is watching how we will respond in these situations. We must trust God, seek His counsel, and wait upon Him to know how to help. Wrong advice given to someone who is in pain, can cause them to turn from God, but good advice can comfort them and have them turn to God during trouble.