Biblical Counseling That Actually Heals: Lessons From Job

Jan 14, 2026

Explore how well-meaning advice can sometimes worsen trauma, as Michael Rowntree delves into the book of Job. Learn why silence can be more healing than lengthy explanations and how blaming victims only deepens their pain. Discover the significance of the ministry of presence and the importance of allowing space for strong emotions. This insightful conversation challenges conventional wisdom around suffering, emphasizing a compassionate, Christ-centered approach that embraces complexity and honors the mystery of pain.

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INSIGHT

Responses Change The Trajectory Of Suffering

How we respond to suffering either intensifies or diminishes that person's pain.
Michael Roundtree shows Job's friends worsen Job's trauma by their poor responses.

ADVICE

Avoid Quick Explanations For Pain

Avoid explaining a traumatized person's suffering with tidy theological answers.
Prioritize compassion over explanations like 'everything happens for a reason.'

ADVICE

Never Blame The Injured

Do not blame victims or imply their behavior caused their trauma.
Refrain from questions or statements that assign guilt, especially after abuse.

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What happens when well-meaning advice becomes another layer of trauma? Michael Rowntree unpacks the book of Job to reveal how our responses to suffering people can either deepen their pain or become a pathway to healing—and why the hardest lesson might be learning when to simply sit in silence.

Drawing from biblical wisdom and modern trauma therapy principles, this episode explores the dangerous beliefs that blame victims for their suffering, the common Christian platitudes that intensify pain rather than heal it, and the revolutionary practice of presence over advice. You'll discover why seven days of silence proved more helpful than lengthy speeches, how to make space for extreme emotions without condemnation, and why accepting mystery is sometimes the most honest response to suffering.

Whether you're a pastor, counselor, friend, or simply someone who wants to minister compassion effectively, this teaching will transform how you approach hurting people. Michael challenges prosperity gospel thinking and retribution theology while offering a tender, Christ-centered alternative rooted in wisdom about how God's people should bear one another's burdens.

The ministry of presence. The freedom to lament. Honoring complexity. These aren't just counseling techniques—they're reflections of how Jesus himself approached the broken and bruised. This is trauma-informed care as God designed it.

0:00 – Introduction
2:00 – Don't Try to Explain Their Suffering
4:02 – Don't Blame Victims
7:16 – Be Slow to Advise
9:20 – Offer the Ministry of Presence
10:49 – Make Space for Lament
13:42 – Honor the Complexity of Pain

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