THE PROBLEM OF EVIL & SUFFERING
“MISERABLE COMFORTERS ARE YOU ALL”
1. SILENCE IS GOLDEN
Job (2:11-13; 4:1; 13:4-5; 21:2-5)
Others (Prov. 17:28; Ecc. 3:7)
Quotes
Examples?
2. BEWARE OF FOOT-IN-MOUTH
Job (1:13-19; 5:17-19, 25; 8:3-4)
Others (Prov. 10:19; 12:18; Ecc. 5:2)
Quotes: Mark Twain – “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—‘tis the difference between the lightening bug and the lightening.”
Examples?
3. SUFFERING PEOPLE SAY THINGS THEY DON’T MEAN (OR LATER REGRET)
Job (6:2-3, 24-26; 10:1; 2:9; 6:14 – trans.)
Others (Ps. 73:21-22; Prov. 19:11)
Quotes
Plutarch – “He who is in a passion is like a man in a fit of falling sickness; he has lost the use of his reason.”
Examples?
4. SUFFERING PEOPLE DON’T EXPECT YOU TO FIX THEIR PROBLEM
Job (6:22-23; 11:13-15; 16:4-5)
Others (Prov. 25:20)
Quotes
Henri Nouwen – “The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing… that is a friend who cares.”
Examples?
5. BE AWARE OF YOUR OWN INSECURITIES
Job (2:7-8; 6:21)
Quotes
Carl Jung – “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people.”
Examples?
6. DON’T JUSTIFY GOD
Job (8:3; 22:5-6; *13:7-8; 42:7)
Others (Is. 55:8-9; Job 42:7)
Quotes
Charles Spurgeon – “When you cannot trace His hand, you must trust His heart.”
Examples?
7. WEEP WITH THOSE WHO WEEP
Job (2:11-13; 19:21)
Others (Rom. 12:15; Gal. 6:2; Heb. 10:32-34; 13:3)
Quotes
Brene Brown – “Rarely can a response make something better. What makes something better is connection.”
Examples?
Things to remember when others are suffering