Why do we so often avoid a person in affliction?324 It may be as simple as the feeling of incompetence—we don’t know what to say or do. It may also be the sheer fear of being drawn into and drowning in the sufferer’s pain. Others stay away because, like Job’s friends, we need to believe that the afflicted person somehow brought this on or wasn’t wise enough to avoid it. That way we can assure ourselves that it could never happen to us. The afflicted person challenges us to admit what we would rather deny—that such severe difficulty can come upon anyone, anytime.
