Job 17:10-12
But you, come on again, all of you,
and I shall not find a wise man among you.
My days are past; my plans are broken off,
the desires of my heart.
They make night into day:
‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.'
To catch the meaning of the above passage, as never before, we have to put ourselves at the scene of the situation. Job is sitting on the ground, perhaps on the outside of his home, scrapping the boils and sores on his exposed skin. His accusers (that is indeed what they are since their only solution for him is to confess his sin(s) to make this all go away) are sitting around in a half-circle, perhaps dressed in their fine linen, shaking their heads in disbelief of Job's constant defending of his character ... despite the obvious evidence he is being punished by God (according to their interpretation). Although, earlier in his response to their first verbal speeches, Job has asked them to be silent, they begin with a second round of accusations and accusatory complaints (chapter 15). Job, in the above verses, is addressing here these new accusations and "words of comfort" he is hearing. They think they are wise for the counsel they are giving him, at the foot of his bed of affliction. Job mocks this and states, "I shall not find a wise man among you." Job wants them to know that although they think they are helping, their words are not wise, they are wounding. He states that although he is facing certain death and his suffering has stolen the very hope of his heart ("My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desire of my desires of my heart), his three "friends" offer a vain and draining message. Job states that they "make night into day" and they say, "The Light; is near to the darkness." We might not at first catch the meaning here, but further meditation might expand our view. To capture the real issue here we have to put ourselves at the feet of anyone we have ever seen in great suffering. We might talk to a cancer patient, or a accident victim, or a person going through a relational separation. Our words might come out like this: "God doesn't make mistakes!! He is always there even when you don't feel it!! All things work together for good!! God will be there!! Don't doubt in the dark what you believed on in the light!!!" These phrases, and those like them, often flow from our lips as natural as we breath. They are NOT wrong statements. But, Job's statement above gives us the mindset of the one who is suffering. In the midst of suffering, sometimes you just want the truth: the pain is tough and we really have no clue as to why sometimes. Often, our words of comfort and our expressions of deep faith, when stated to the one suffering, are more about strengthened out faith, then about helping others. We have to put "their" suffering into "our" belief system to make it make sense. Job is saying that these three men are not wise because they give the simple answer for his suffering: He is in the spot because of his sin. Job, at this time, has lost hope. What he really needs is love, compassion and mercy, not condemnation, accusations and vain attempts to put the suffering into context. We don't really know why a young couple might lose a baby. We do know that they need love, comfort and mercy. We are God's hands of comfort at the time of their suffering. We don't always have to be their Words of Wisdom on a two legs. We might know that "light is near to darkness" (hope is still there) but they are not in a place to hear that message sometimes. The truth is, the message may be right but the application and timing might be completely off. Timing is everything with God's truth. Stating the obvious might make us feel good, but the real need for the suffering is that, like God, we love them and have compassion for them and are there to listen if they need to talk ... we don't have to ... it might make us better, but not their situation. Carefully choose when to talk to those suffering and what to say. Sometimes just listening is as powerful as a speech full of truth that can't be heard.
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