Strength & Support

Read: Job 4:1-11

Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees. --- Job 4:4

The Bible In One Year:
Judges 1-3
Luke 4:1-30

The local newspaper reported that a mother is devastated because her 21-year-old son, who had always seemed like an upright young man, had been arrested for dealing drugs.

Also in our community, the parents and siblings of a 15-year-old are grieving because he was killed in a gun accident.

An aged friend is heartbroken because her only daughter, the person she depended on more than all others, died from cancer.

People who are hurting have a common need: the comfort that comes from trusting God. They need to be assured that tragedy and grief are not a mark of God's disfavor but that He weeps with them, He loves them, and He will never leave those who are His.

Eliphaz said to Job: "Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees" [Job 4:4]. Job earned this tribute despite his own deep suffering. And when we offer comfort to sorrowing and suffering people, we not only emulate Job --- we emulate Jesus.

In the midst of a host of hurting people, each one of us can reach out to become a comforter like Job. Let's ask God to make our hearts tender enough to support and strengthen those who are hurting. --- Herb Vander Lugt

Reach out and give your love to the loveless,
Reach out and make a home for the homeless;
Reach out and shed God's light in the darkness ---
Reach out and let the smile of God touch through you. --- Brown

GOD DOESN'T COMFORT US TO MAKE US COMFORTABLE, BUT TO MAKE US COMFORTERS.