Do you view those who are suffering like Job's friends viewed him? Job 29-30

Job 30:8-10 (NASBStr)

“ Fools, even those without a name,

They were scourged from the land.

 “And now I have become their taunt,

I have even become a byword to them.

 “They abhor me and stand aloof from me,

And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

How quickly fortunes and lives can change.  Where once a person was large and in charge, with just one event (usually foolishness) he/she is reduced to a punch line of the nightly comic.   We don't cherish our good places in life, nor do we adequately prepare for the bad.   In the above verse we pick up Job's lament about his current situation.   We really can't fully grasp the meaning of these few verses unless we completely digest chapter twenty-nine of this book.   In that chapter Job is talking about when he was at the top of his game.   He was highly respected, trusted, counted upon and honored.   People would come to him for help, counsel and intervention.   Yet, due this current issue, he was reduced to a mere byword.   And, as stated in the above, even those who were fools in his previous life are now taunting him. These "fools" now are positioned (at least in their minds) higher than Job and stand "aloof."  This suffering in Job's life has seen him deal with spittle rather than praise.   Yet, this suffering, as we know, was not his fault and was, in fact, due to his righteousness.    These "fools" would not know that, of course.  Had they known that they would have taken a different route and made sure Job kept his honor.  Today, in our minds, Job has high honor.  But, had we lived there at that time, we, too, might have reduced our honor for feigned pity.    Too many times we see someone suffer and think it MUST be deserved and therefore we change our respect for them.   These people in Job's life didn't see the hand of God in Job's life.   They only saw the suffering and equated that with sin, selfishness, and/or a deserved recompense for his hypocritical life style.  We would do well to refrain from becoming fools in the lives of others when we observe their life unfold.  The suffering we see may very well be BECAUSE of their deep character,  not the lack of it.   Be careful who you mock.   They may be a child of God, under the hand of God, experiencing the grace of God in a way you may never know.