Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” Job 2:3-6 NIV
I love God’s confidence in His servant Job! “He still maintains his integrity,” God declared to Satan, like a proud father, boasting about his beloved son. Have you ever struggled through a situation and despite the pain, managed to maintain your integrity, then wondered if God noticed? He did! Every time you stand your ground under Satan’s attack, even in small ways, God takes notice and is pleased!
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. Job 2:7-10 NIV
Job’s life had fallen apart, he lost so much, and now on top of it all, he had to endure physical pain. So what did Job do? As he sat among the ashes, a sign of mourning and humility before God, Job did the best he could to ease his pain and suffering. He picked up a piece of broken pottery and used it to scrape his sores, to remove the infection, in hopes of gaining some relief. Have you ever been in a situation where the best you could do was to humble yourself before God, pick up the broken pieces and hope for some relief?
In the midst of his suffering, Job’s wife encouraged him to just give up, curse God and die. This was clearly not the support and encouragement Job needed, but before you go off on his wife’s attitude, consider this: Job was not the only one whose life was falling apart. She too was mourning the loss of children, all ten of them killed in one day! She too had lost the family fortune. Her husband had lost the respect of all their friends and had become a laughing stock in the community. And if that’s not enough, the man she loved was suffering and in pain.
If you’ve ever watched someone you love suffering through a painful illness, you understand how hard that can be. Do you think that under the same circumstances you would find it easy to avoid frustration and anger toward God? Could it be that you might also want to throw in the towel? I think the wife, in this story, represents the normal, human response. That’s what makes Job’s integrity stand out as so remarkable! But it’s not the wife who God boasts about, it’s Job! You and I want to aspire to respond to suffering with the same humility and trust in God that Job displayed.
How does a righteous man respond to a wife who is falling short and struggling to be all that God desires her to be? Job said to his wife, “You are talking like a foolish woman.” Job doesn’t attack his wife’s character, he only attacks her words. He does not call her foolish, he calls her words foolish. From all that we know about Job, I’m going to guess that this righteous man had a righteous wife. Perhaps he was thinking: “You’re talking like a foolish woman, come on, that’s not who you are. You know better than that! God’s been good to us, we can’t reject Him now!”
We all handle suffering differently. What if we decide to offer grace to those we love when they struggle through painful times? Yes, point them in the right direction, call foolishness what it is and help them regain a righteous perspective, but show them patience and compassion. Despite all of his own pain, Job maintained integrity in his relationship with his wife, even when she was struggling and was unable to provide him with the spiritual encouragement and support he needed. We can learn a lot from Job!
“Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” There’s no mystery as to what God appreciated about Job. He let God be God. He trusted Him and accepted whatever He allowed to come his way, never losing sight of God’s goodness. Job modeled for us the only righteous response to pain and suffering.