Tag: accusations
Responding to Sickness
Scripture reading for August 13: Job 2:7-10 “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
The story of Job in Scripture gives us insight into the unseen world of spiritual conflict between Satan, the accuser of the brothers, and Job, a man who loved and trusted God. God had allowed Satan to take Job’s health from him in order to prove that Job served God with integrity, not just for benefits God bestows on those who trust him. Job was afflicted with open sores all over his body. His response was to sit in ashes, a sign of mourning and repentance. He also took a piece of broken pottery and scraped the sores to get some relief. The broken pottery likely reflects how Job was feeling after this terrible attack on his body.
But even worse, Satan used his wife to bring the attack to a new level. She questioned how her husband could maintain his integrity of trusting God when God would allow something like this to happen. Her suggestion to “Curse God and die” was a path to eternal destruction and Satan was behind it. The term for ‘curse’ was the same word used for ‘bless’ in the Hebrew. She was suggesting that Job’s ‘blessing’ of God would not keep him from death. He should just do whatever he felt like.
But Job did maintain his integrity and rebuked his wife for her foolish advice. Job knew that the righteous path was to trust God in good times and in bad times. God would work things out for his good. He kept a good confession with his lips, although the temptation to loose it and turn to accusation of God and self-pity was certainly strong.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for keeping Job through faith in Your justice and goodness. Help me during trials of sickness to trust You to work everything out for good! (Romans 8:28) Keep me from sin with my lips. Amen.