Job 2:11-13  When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 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. (NIV)

—

It’s good to have friends. This is especially true during times of grief and loss and seasons of celebration. 

Now, before I say what I’m about to say, I need to say something else. Job’s three friends here did the right thing by showing up. They did the right thing by sticking with Job through his suffering. And they did the right thing by receiving forgiveness and restoration at the end of this book. (See 42:7-11.)

In between showing up and finding forgiveness, they said some things that sounded pretty smart, but that ultimately missed the mark. 

It’s impossible to speak with authority and finality when we lack ultimate clarity. Sometimes the smartest thing we can say is, “I don’t know.” Sometimes, the best thing we can say is nothing at all. 

Now, back to what I was going to say before I had to say that. 

The presence of friends we can count on who see us for who we are, with all our failures, foibles, and foolishness, as well as all our faithful friendship that has endured across the decades, helps us be gut-level honest about what really matters. 

I recently sat in one of my favorite barbecue joints with three such faithful friends. They’re the kind of guys I don’t make a major life decision without talking to. We’re not talking about your average turning point. We’re talking about life gates you walk through once, never to return. 

One of these friends has been there and done that. Two of those friends are on the precipice of being there and doing that. One of those friends has the date marked on the calendar, and others are planning his party. The other is in the process of scheduling his departure. 

Among the things we discussed that day were the vagaries and nuances of something called Medicare. We contemplated Part D. We laughed to think that we who have known each other for so long from our younger selves and across the decades are now plotting how to spend more time with our kids and grandkids and less time with anyone else.

It’s good to have friends. 

Job’s friends became a bit of a burden in the middle of the book, but by the end, the burden had been lifted, and restoration was achieved. The friends did what God said. Job did what God said. Verse 9 ends with these words: “and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.” 

What friend of yours needs your prayers today? God loves to hear and answer our prayers on behalf of our friends. Sometimes the friendliest thing we can do is pray. There is something we can do in the presence of our friends and in the absence of our friends. We who know each other’s hearts and minds so well understand perhaps best of all how to pray for one another. 

Let us pray for our friends.

—

I will thank God for my friends and seek his highest and best for them today.

—

Our Father, you have given me faithful friends. You have blessed me with friends who are smarter, better, faster than me. You have blessed me with friends who’ve been there and done that. You have blessed me with friends who are on the same path. Thank you for my friends. Bless them today. Bless them abundantly. Bless them so richly with your goodness and grace, your mercy and kindness, that your presence overflows their lives into the lives of everyone they meet as they have for me all these years. Amen.