“The Lord
restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord
increased all that Job had twofold.” (v.10)
Throughout
the account of Job’s suffering his three friends had one thing in common; they wrongly concluded that a series of tragedies
happened to him because Job had sinned. His three “comforters” failed miserably
in their efforts to ease his pain. Instead of bringing sympathy, they delivered
accusations that only compounded his anguish. Yet
Job prayed for his friends and had the delight of seeing them turn to God for
forgiveness (vv.7-10)
When people have hurt and offended us, we often pray that God
will help them see the error of their ways. And should God choose to extract a
bit of vengeance, we wouldn’t be opposed to that either. But the real joy comes
if we can put our pain behind us and pray for God’s blessing on them.
Therefore, may we follow the example of Job and pray
for our friends and acquaintances—even when they hurt us.
The Truth: But I
say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who
hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute
you.” (Matthew 5:44)
