During a difficult recession, I organized a support group for fellow to
help them cope with unemployment. We provided resumé reviews, networking, and
prayer support. One problem emerged: Whenever someone got a job, he or she
almost never returned to the group to offer encouragement. That increased the
loneliness and isolation of those left in the group.
Worse, though, were comments from those who had never experienced a job
loss. They mirrored the accusations of Job’s friends in his suffering: “If you
were pure and upright, surely now [God] would awake for you, and prosper [you]”
(8:6). By chapter 12, Job is starting to express things in terms modern workers
can understand. He says that he feels despised by those whose life is easy
(v.5).
When things are going well for us, we may start to think that we who
don’t have troubles are better somehow, or are more loved by God, than those
who are struggling. We forget that the effects of this fallen world are
indiscriminate.
We are all loved by the Lord and we all need Him—in good times and bad.
The successes, abundance, and positions that God has given to us are tools to
help us encourage others in their time of need.
Humility toward God makes us gentle toward others. (RBC)
