The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Job’s wife. What we do know is not very flattering. Many of the commentaries I have read have described her as another tool Satan used to add to Job’s suffering. I believe many times when we read this book of the Bible our attention is always focused on Job. We forget that this poor woman suffered right along with her husband. Everything Job lost, she lost too.
Job’s reaction in this trial was so different than his wife’s. They both suffered the same losses. In one day they lost everything. Ten children whom they loved and raised together, were gone. I cannot even imagine the agony of that. Their status in the community had been shattered. They were left isolated and alone except for three friends of Job. These friends ended up not being a source of comfort to Job. This couple had not had a financial care in the world and in one day they lost all they had worked so hard to obtain. On top of all of this, Job also had his physical body turn on him. Yet through all of this Job said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Job’s wife’s statement was one of anger and bitterness. She was in deep despair. My thought on this is, how could her feathers not be ruffled? How could she not be in agony? She lost all that she loved and then she watched as her husband suffered in physical pain. When we are in these dark times, it is hard not to look up and shake our fist at God. We often doubt his love for us.
Yet God wrote her words in the Bible for a reason. There is something to learn from this. The loss of a child is a family affair. We as moms are not the only one who is suffering. Our husbands and our children are also in a world of hurt. Maybe God is trying to remind us to look outside ourselves. We can be so wrapped up in our own hurt that we forget about the others who also lost so much when this child died. So I ask myself. Am I a thorn in my husband’s life in how I react to his grief? Do I understand that just because he is not grieving like I do he is still grieving? If he does not open up and share his feelings with me, it does not mean he doesn’t have any. I don’t want to be the type of wife or mother that is described in Proverbs. A quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof. In these dark times it can be hard to use words with restraint and keep our tempers under control. We need to search our hearts for loving wisdom and find some understanding. We have no control over how our spouses are reacting to this loss or anyone else for that reason. We only can control ourselves. When we reach out in love, it can conquer much.
- Michele
