14 My relatives have failed, And my close friends have forgotten me. . . Job 19:14-19
Job suffered many losses at the hand of Satan. We see in the early chapters God allowed Satan to touch his possessions, children, and even his health. But one could debate the above passage as to whether it was the direct hand of Satan who turned his friends from him or was it the fragility of friendships being exposed.
Notice Job's losses in chapter 19:
Relatives (perhaps siblings, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces) forgot him and turned against him.
Close friends forgot him and abhorred him.
Servants who lived with him treated him like a stranger and did not even respect him enough to answer when he called.
His own wife didn't listen to him.
How good are we at maintaining a relationship with friends or family members who have tragedies in their lives? All have seen times when two individuals spend much time together, but after one has a life-altercating loss, such as a stroke, the relationship is greatly changed. Once the stroke victim was incapable of the same activity, the other hardly ever visited. They forgot them! True friendship isn't based on an activity, it is built on a relationship! If one doesn't visit another except on a golf course, shooting range or at the senior citizens center then that relationship is nothing deeper than the activity of which they are participating.
Isn't it a sad commentary that these deserters during Job's losses came back to him when he had pleasure, health, activity, and possessions restored to him. Now that he had something to share with them, they finally came back, ready to share with him ( Job 42:11). Would you have been a better friend? Let's be faithful to our friends!