「爸爸，我頭痛！」「爸爸，我好冷！」「爸爸，你可以幫我揉揉腳嗎？」

最近，我十幾歲的女兒突然發高燒，發冷，身體痠痛。她希望我能讓她感覺好一點，但她最主要還是希望我能陪在她身邊。最後，我們帶她去看了急診。醫生告訴我們，這是病毒感染，除了自己熬過去之外，別無他法。

那天，我坐在生病的女兒身邊好幾個小時。幫她揉腳，幫她拿藥，迫切地希望能讓她感覺舒服一點。但是偶爾，我那自私的一面還是會抱怨：我太難了！的確，陪伴正在受苦的人，近距離目睹他們經歷痛苦，真的很不容易。

約伯的朋友們也近距離目睹約伯的痛苦。這三個人因後來對約伯的指責而經常受到批評，他們也沒被冤枉。但人們卻常常忘記，這三個人最初只是默默地坐在約伯身邊。約伯記2章13節說：「他們就同他七天七夜坐在地上，一個人也不向他說句話，因為他極其痛苦。」

這提醒我們，當所愛之人受苦時，陪伴往往才是最重要的，無論我們是否說話，只要陪在對方身邊，就能帶來安慰。這也告訴我們，即使我們不一定知道該說什麼，單單坐在那受苦的人身邊，或許就是我們能給予對方最好的禮物！

“Daddy, my head hurts.” “Daddy, I’m so cold.” “Daddy, can you rub my feet?”

A high fever, chills, and body aches recently descended cruelly upon my teenage daughter. She wanted me to make it better. But mostly she just wanted me near. Eventually we took her to urgent care. “Virus,” we were told. Nothing to do but ride it out.

I sat with my sick girl for hours that day. Rubbing her feet. Getting her medicine. Desperately wanting her to feel better. Occasionally, my selfish side complained, This is hard. Indeed, it is hard to sit with people’s suffering, to witness their hurt up close.

Job’s friends saw his suffering up close too. These three guys are often—fairly!—criticized for their later poor treatment of Job. But it’s easy to forget that, initially, they simply sat with him: “They sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:13).

Jobs’ friends remind us that when someone we love is hurting, it’s our presence—our being there, whether we speak or not—that often matters most. Their example reminds us that even though we may not always know what to say, simply sitting with someone in their suffering may be the greatest gift we can give.