Job 2:9

New International Version (NIV)

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

For Meditation

One of the most painful things in life is to live under the shadow of a popular person and suffer, as that person is; yet, no one seems to notice or care.

 Enter the house of the Jobs with me for a minute. Life has flipped for the couple by a series of devastating events. With almost synchronized rapidity, the announcements come in: “The oxen and donkeys are gone, per an attack of the Sabeans”; “the sheep and the servants are gone, consumed by fire from heaven”; “the camels have been carried away, by three raiding parties of the Chaldeans”; “all your sons and daughters have perished under the rubble of the collapsed house of your oldest son”. You are Mrs. Job and you are grieving with your husband. Neighbors walk in. They greet you briefly and move on to your husband. They spend time consoling him with the most comforting words they can muster. You sit in your corner, almost neglected; yet, you’re bleeding on the inside and grieving just as your husband is. A mother’s pain and grief at the death of ten children! But, who notices? After all, Job is the blameless and upright man; who fears God and shuns evil (Job. 1:1). He is the star of the community and their benevolent and wise counselor. So who is Mrs. Job? Yet, you’re bleeding just as your husband is!

Not too long after, the only one who cares, the one on whom you lean for support, your husband, is bodily afflicted; big time! With divine permission, Satan hits Job with “painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head” (2:7). He’s writhing in pain and you are left  alone to nurse him. The sight of his condition, the stench from his sores, the physical exertion involved in your care, the emotional drain and all; yet, you’re still grieving over your children! But, who notices?

Suddenly, you feel the weight of everything collapsing on you. Overwhelmed, you scream at your husband, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die! (9)”

Your husband rebukes you in a painful way: “Foolish woman!”

“Really, husband darling?”

And down through history, the whole world descends on her. “How could she say that?”

1. Does anybody understand her frustration?
2. Does anybody notice the scar in her heart? Does anyone feel her pain and loneliness?
3. Why can’t somebody see that Mrs. Job is as much a victim as Job, her husband?
4. Why can’t somebody discern the agony of her silent grief and her suffering through the painful toil of nursing her badly afflicted husband?
5. Likewise, why can’t somebody notice your pain and suffering, just as your husband or wife or friend or neighbor may be going through; and maybe, even more? Yet, you are silently grieving!

I pray that the Lord, who sees beyond the physical and cares more than any human heart and hand, may touch you where it hurts most and bring you the much needed healing you’re crying for.

 May God bring your way, a person who understands, because they’ve been where you are and can feel your pain! Most importantly, may our Father in heaven, who suffered silently through the torture and cruel death of His only Begotten Son, embrace you with His warm and bring you comfort and healing through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen!

Shalom