Reflection: Terry
Voice: Mylene
When it is OK not to be OK
Audio
Today is Tuesday, the 17th of June. As we start another day, let us be still in His presence.
We praise the Lord in the words of Psalm 8:
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[b]
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.
The Scripture is Job 8:1-10:
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
4 If your children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
5 If you will seek God
and plead with the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore your rightful habitation.
7 And though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.
8 “For inquire, please, of bygone ages,
and consider what the fathers have searched out.
9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
Reflection
In this passage, Bildad the Shuhite responds to Job’s lament. If you’ve read Job’s raw cry in chapter 7 — filled with grief, questions, and despair — it’s not hard to see why Bildad felt the need to speak up. Job, we’re told, “complained in the bitterness of his soul” (7:11). His words were painful, faithless-sounding, even unsettling.
Have you ever sat beside a suffering believer and heard them speak in a way that sounded hopeless? Perhaps they said things that made you uncomfortable — things that sounded like they were losing faith. Maybe your instinct, like Bildad’s, was to jump in and fix it. You quoted Scripture. You gave answers. You explained how God works. You tried to turn the moment into a Bible study.
But poor Job. This wasn’t a time for theological correction. It wasn’t a classroom moment. It was the cry of a broken heart. The truth is, it takes far less energy for a suffering soul to groan or weep than to put on a brave face just to make others comfortable. Often, the deepest pain has no tidy words. That’s why some Christians, when they suffer, withdraw — not because they have lost faith, but because they feel they can’t be fully human around other believers. They fear being judged, corrected, or misunderstood. Or, they fear being a discouragement to others.
Sometimes, what a suffering person needs most is simply your presence. Not your answers. Not your verses. Just your willingness to sit with them in silence, to weep with them if needed, and to affirm that it’s okay to not be okay.
Remember what Jesus longed for in the Garden of Gethsemane — not sermons or solutions, but friends who would stay awake with Him in His agony.
Job would eventually regain his spiritual footing. But in the meantime, what he needed most was not Bildad’s theology — but a friend who would simply stay near and listen with empathy.
Take a moment to reflect:
Have you tried to fix someone when you were called to simply sit with them?
Ask the Lord for the wisdom and gentleness to be a comforting, non-judgmental presence to those in pain.
Collect
We end with the collect from Trinity Sunday:
Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen
Be blessed by the song by Darlene Zschech, Cry of the Broken
Lord I come
Lord I thank You
For Your love
For this grace divine
Love and mercy undeserving
You gave it all
The greatest sacrifice
You were wounded for my sin
And You were bruised
For all my shame
You were broken for my healing
Only by the cross I’m saved
You’re the mender
Of the broken
To every outcast
A friend and comforter
I come boldly to Your presence
Lord I bow before Your throne
You’re my Healer
My Redeemer
You’re my hope
My life my all
You hear the cry of the broken
You hear the cry of the broken
You hear the cry of the broken
You answer the cry of the broken
You answer the cry of the broken
You answer the cry of the broken
Link to today’s Morning Office
About This Daily Devotion
This weekday devotion is drawn from the Morning Office and is part of a project initiated by Revd Canon Terry Wong, with contributions from clergy and members across various parishes. Each entry includes selected readings from the appointed Psalm and another Scripture passage, accompanied by a reflection and prayer. An audio option is also available, often ending with a hymn or song. We encourage you to both read and listen.
Our aim is to help Anglicans engage more deeply with our rich liturgical tradition, while meeting the devotional needs of today’s believers. This project began on Ash Wednesday 2025 and is offered on weekdays only.
For feedback, please write to us at info@mpcc.org.sg.
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