1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself
before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest
thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in
the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3 And the Lord said unto
Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him
in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and
escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou
movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan
answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath
will he give for his life. 5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his
bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the Lord
said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with
sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a
potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity?
curse God, and die.
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the
foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God,
and shall we not receive evil?
In all this did not Job sin with his
lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come
upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite,
and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an
appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
12
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they
lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and
sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with
him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word
unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
==========
Comments by Joan Boney
One time my cousin who attends Church of Christ came to comfort me. The more she talked, the more negative her stories became. Finally even she recognized this!
Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "The Comforter" ... The Holy Spirit might comfort us directly or the Holy Spirit might comfort us through another person ... but always it is the Spirit of God who provides comfort for us.
The flesh profits nothing ...
The flesh can also make things worse as did Job's 3 friends when they brought him wisdom out of their own minds.