“So,” the meddler continues, “be glad this happened, for God intends to strengthen your character through it.” At this point, the would-be hiker might be seized by an urge to snatch the Bible from his counselor’s hands and use it as a blunt object to knock some sense into him while quoting Job’s speech about “miserable comforters” (Job 16:1–5). Of course, God can use all of life’s sorrows—and all its joys—to bring believers to maturity. But it is misleading to use James 1 as the first word in grief