Devotions

Job’s wife had recently lost all her children, and now her grief was doubled as she saw her husband’s body covered with painful boils. Job was suffering constantly. She heard his groans through the night as even his bones throbbed with pain (30:17). He became hideous to look at as maggots bred in his open sores (7:5) and his skin turned black (30:30).

As she watched her husband’s misery, the thought arose in her mind, “How can a loving God do this to my husband who has been so faithful to Him? Such a God is not worthy of Job’s love and trust. He should renounce God and let His judgment fall and end his suffering.” Job’s wife believed Satan’s lie and learned a lesson we all must learn: if we don’t reject the devil’s lie we will fall prey to deep bitterness and become a mouthpiece of the devil, the last thing our suffering loved one needs.

Job’s answer to his wife shows us how we should respond to Satan’s lie: “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job’s point is that we haven’t deserved any of the good things we ‘ve gladly received from God, but we have deserved far more adversity than He has sent our way. Since both blessing and affliction come from God’s gracious hand, we must humbly accept them both and cling to Him in all circumstances, good and evil. So when we are perplexed at seeing a loved one suffer, let us listen to Job and learn from him the way of peace.