Job's Wife

 I've never read the Book of Job through and through.  I've kind of been afraid of it.  The whole idea of God letting Satan take over a person's life to mess with it, even though that person has been a good and faithful servant of the Almighty makes me really uncomfortable.  And I'm not going to lie, when I turned the page to chapter 1, the sight of the name Job in big and bold letters made me shudder.  But here I am...deep sigh...

There's been a ton of things that have impacted me, already, and I'm only on chapter 2.  But, this morning, I wanted to pause on Job's wife for a minute.  When Job got his skin covered with painful sores from head to toe, what did the wifey do? Well, this is what she said to him:   His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job 2: 9

I'm not sure whether to cry or laugh at this.  She is so harsh she is funny.  It is no laughing matter, though, for she is serious.  It's not a line from a sitcom on TV that is meant to be hilarious.  She meant what she said.  And as painful as it is for me to admit it, I've said horribly harsh things like these to my husband as well.

Being a wife is hard.  Being a good wife is almost impossible.  I pray I can become, a decent wife...one who at least doesn't cause too much damage and is occasionally helpful.  There was a time when I tried to be perfect...that didn't go well at all.  I learned perfection as a wife was not going to be attainable for me...so I settled for prayerful.  Once I became honest with myself, I realized the best I could be was a wife who demonstrated her love by praying for my husband and marriage.  So, every day, I pray God would guide me, change me and make me new.

There are still moments when my mouth gets away from me and I spit out hateful things.  But one of the most valuable truths God has been teaching me as a wife is that, indeed, Dan is not the source of my satisfaction, contentment, fulfillment, support, peace, love...none of that.  And if I insist on making him my all in all, I'm going to end up sorely disappointed, grumpy, bitter and completely empty, while as a bonus, I'm going to make him feel absolutely inadequate, angry, fully emasculated and wanting nothing to do with me other than reject me and run away.

Sigh...

I don't know what motivated Job's wife to say such cruel words to him in his moment of suffering.  I don't know what caused this lack of compassion.  All I know is that I can't be a self-righteous hypocrite and judge her as if I've never done the same or worst...because I have.  Therefore, my reaction to this woman's experience is prayer.  I pray I can experience godly sorrow as I see myself in her.  I pray I can experience forgiveness as I confess my own sinfulness as a wife.  I pray I can experience the liberation from the Holy Spirit as He leads me away from whom I have been, and towards the person and the wife I was designed to be.  I pray I never forget.  I pray I'm always aware.  And I pray these things in the Name of Jesus, the One who Makes us new.  Amen!