During this holiday season, I want to share a short mini blog-series about suffering in seeming silence, and what it looks like to suffer alone with no one noticing. This topic is relevant to Singles and especially during the holiday season, but I believe that many others will find yourself relating to the content that follows.
Let’s journey together…
In the book of Job, the scene opens up with the highlights of his accomplishments and character. Job was a wonder and he consistently gave all glory to God for his blessings. Job’s IG highlight reel actually matched his real lift, which we all know to be a rare occasion. Job had faith, family and favor.
Then ‘it’ happened. Tragedy. Not because of his actions, but seemingly because of his faithfulness. Because of his hope in God, Job was tested by the enemy to really see if the life he was living of devotion was simply due to all his ‘stuff’ or if it was rooted in his Savior. If you’re unfamiliar with the story – satan asked God (and was given permission) to test Job by wreaking havoc and heartache in every area of his life, short of taking his and his wife’s life (Job 1-2). But stop there… that’s where we want to hang this series – on his wife. In Job 1:12 & 2:6, God gives satan the boundary of sparing only Job’s life, not his wife. So why wasn’t she included in the suffering? Why was her life spared?
The Bible doesn’t say, but I believe it’s because God had a boundary of protection around her due to her covenant with Job. Remember, our enemy knows The Word probably better than many of us (ouch), and he actually has experienced it first hand. So he remembers that in the garden when God joined Adam and Eve, He proclaimed it an unbreakable covenant, the two should become one. So, I’d wager to believe that when God said ‘but spare Job’s life’, his wife was included in that directive. This is another powerful incentive to take marriage mindedness as a serious commitment, and not just something of convenience that we can get out of, if it doesn’t work out.
I needed to take this moment to set the stage for the rest of this series, because this is where we will focus the next 4 blogs…on Job’s wife.
I recently heard a pastor state – ‘aren’t you glad that your worst mistakes aren’t broadcast for the entire world to judge and use as examples?’ That hit home.
Remember, we are reading the Bible, but they were ‘living the Bible’. Completely different experience, right? Think about those uncertain times in your life, those long nights, those lonely days, those crying until nothing else is coming out weeks, those ‘I’ll just figure it out on my own’ attempts, those months of heartache, those times when you were too afraid to pray because you didn’t even know WHAT to pray…those times when the outcome was so uncertain, the times when your faith did fail. Remember those?
Maybe you don’t have to think so far back. Maybe you are in one of those times now…well, there’s hope. Let’s journey together through Job’s wife’s story and find encouragement in an unlikely place.
Reflective Questions:
Have you ever thought about the wife? What was your initial judgement (if you don’t like this word, let’s use analysis 😉) of her throughout the scripture?