Job 2: 11-13 Job’s friends agree to travel and visit him after the recent tragedies that have struck his family, business, and health.

Long before Jewish ritual and custom was established, Job’s friends followed a pattern of grief support known as “sitting shiva.” The strict idea of this was to spend 7 days with a close relative (or beloved friend) grieving together.

a long way to providing comfort & peace. As we all know during our own times of suffering (but sometimes forget during the suffering of others), humbly providing “presence” to a friend/loved one can go a long way to providing comfort & peace.

wanting to find a solution for his pain. It was, no doubt, difficult for Job’s friends to sit in such uncomfortable and painful silence for that week… wanting to why these things had happened to Job and wanting to find a solution for his pain. And…that’s where everything changes.

In Chapter 3, Job breaks the silence and curses the day of his birth; maintaining his innocence. This was not the discussion that his friends had hoped to have with him.

From Chapters 4-38; Job and his friends engage in a fiery “debate” over the source of his difficulties, how to stop them, and which of them has the wrong opinion on the matter.

Job 9: 33-35 33  “If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together, 34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,     so that His terror would frighten me no more. 35 Then I would speak up without fear of Him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.”

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Friendship Tips 1.) Be dependable, not a fair-weather friend. 2.) Lovingly confront a friend, when necessary. 3.) Know when to cut friends some slack. 4.) Focus on the heart, not just the surface.