God’s Comforts

Giving Comfort

When Eliphaz speaks of “comforts of God,” he apparently means his words. He also means the words of his two companions. In fact, the three friends presented Job with a wonderful future. They spoke of healing, blessing, peace, and prosperity (Job 5:8–27; Job 8:5–7.20–22; Job 11:13–20).

Conditions Attached

But Job’s friends linked that bright future to a condition. Job had to humble himself deeply before God. They claimed he had sinned greatly. Their baseless and merciless accusations hurt Job deeply. It is therefore not surprising that Job said to his friends: “You are all troublesome comforters!” (Job 16:2). Their good intention to comfort Job (Job 2:11) failed miserably.

What True Comfort Requires

If our comfort is to reach a suffering heart, good intentions are not enough. A few well-chosen words are not enough either. We need wisdom from above. Then we can speak a “word in its time.” It must be paired with the necessary mercy. Speculation about the cause of suffering will smother comfort. It will reliably suffocate well-meant words.

Comfort Shared From Experience

Comfort is most effective when it comes from our own experience. Then we can pass on the comfort God has given us (2 Corinthians 1:3.4). If the other person’s specific suffering is foreign to us, we can still try. We are also those who are “in the body” (Hebrews 13:3). We can try to empathize with the other person. In this way, we can become good comforters.

Receiving Comfort

It sounds cynical when Eliphaz asks his friend Job this question. He asks whether God’s comforts are too small for him. Yet the question itself is justified. It concerns how we deal with comfort from God’s Word. Has our soul not sometimes refused to be comforted? That was the case with Asaph (Psalms 77:3). This is especially true when comfort reaches us through human vessels. It can reach us in an imperfect way.

Hearts Oriented Toward God

We will accept such comfort most readily when our hearts are fully focused on God. Then we have learned to trust Him. After the impressive speech of God, Job stopped defending himself. He no longer wanted to use his hand to sign his defense. Instead, he humbly laid it on his mouth. Then he also became open to comfort through others. His brothers, his sisters, and his former acquaintances expressed sympathy. They reached a submissive Job with their comfort (Job 31:35; 40:4; 42:11).

Our Self-Examination

We ask ourselves: Are we people who can pass on comfort? Are we also people who can accept it? For both, grace is needed. The Lord wants to give it to us. 

“Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversity that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a gold ring.”

Job 42:11