August 24, 2026
Chuck Swindoll’s teaching from the book of Job offers an important reminder: when someone is suffering, our words can either lighten the load – or add to it.
When someone we care about is hurting, most of us want to help. So we reach for words. We offer an explanation. We point out something they might have done differently. We search for a Bible verse that will make sense of what has happened.
Our intentions may be good. But sometimes what a hurting person needs most isn’t an answer.
They need grace.
In today’s Insight for Living teaching, Chuck Swindoll looks at Job 15–17 and the painful interaction between Job and his friend Eliphaz. Job has experienced unimaginable loss and desperately needs compassion. Instead, his friend responds with accusation and correction.
It’s a powerful reminder to think carefully about the words we offer people who are suffering.
As we look back at today’s teaching, here are three things we think are worth remembering for all of us.
1. Don’t assume you know why they’re suffering.
It’s tempting to look at someone else’s circumstances and connect the dots.
Maybe this happened because…
If only they had…
Perhaps God is trying to teach them…
That’s essentially what Job’s friends did. The problem was that they couldn’t see what God could see.
Neither can we.
There may eventually be a time for perspective, counsel or correction. But suffering should make us especially humble about explanations we simply aren’t qualified to give. Sometimes three words are far more helpful: “I’m so sorry.”
2. Don’t turn their pain into a lecture.
Truth matters. But so does timing.
A person in the middle of grief may not need someone to explain suffering. They may need someone willing to sit with them in it. That’s one of the striking lessons from Job’s friends. Earlier in the story, they actually do something beautiful: they sit silently with Job in his grief. The trouble begins when they start trying to explain everything.
Before giving advice, we might ask ourselves: Does this person need my wisdom right now – or my presence?
Those are not always the same thing.
3. Don’t underestimate the power of grace-filled words.
Words can add weight to someone who is already carrying more than we realize.
But words can also lift.
I’m here.
You’re not alone.
I’m praying for you.
How can I help?
You don’t have to have everything figured out today.
Those aren’t complicated statements. But spoken with genuine compassion, they can be enormously meaningful.
Swindoll’s message points us toward a simple principle: when circumstances are confusing and answers are scarce, grace is never out of place.
A question for today
Think about someone in your life who is carrying something difficult.
Instead of asking: “What advice can I give them?”
Try asking: “How can I show them grace?”
Maybe that means saying something encouraging.
Maybe it means listening.
Maybe it means helping with something practical.
And maybe it simply means being there.
Hear more: This idea comes from Chuck Swindoll’s message “Graceless Words for a Grieving Man,” from his series Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance. Hear the complete teaching from Insight for Living through KHCB On Demand.
