The Book of Job: Practical Theodicy – Job’s Friends

August 16, 2026

Pastor Nate Roschen

When your friends are in crisis, what do you do? In the case of Job, after tragedy had befallen him, his friends showed up for him. Their initial reaction was commendable. They wept with him, mourned with him, tore their clothes and wept with him. They sat with him in silence for seven days and seven nights. They were, in every sense, with their friend. Their presence was what was needed. But it didn’t take long before his friends changed their strategy. Upon seeing the depth of despair that Job was in, they begin to try to fix the problem. The first order of business was determining where to assign blame. Someone must be responsible for this. In our own lives – we will be called upon to offer something to those in trouble. What will we bring? What will our posture be? Can we trust God, and wait on Him, even in desperate times? -Pastor Nate Roschen