Job’s Wife ~ Tragedy: Asking God, “Why?”

The Sri Lankan soldier assured the pastor, “We’ll declare a ceasefire tonight, allowing you and your people safe passage.” So, the pastor instructed his parishioners to meet him at 2:00 a.m. Two hundred Christians, including the pastor and his family, raced across the open field between the rebels and the government troops. Suddenly, tragedy struck; shots rang out, killing 60% of those fleeing. The pastor saw his wife and son fall. Although horrified, he couldn’t stop, or he and his other children would also die. When asked later about his experience, he replied, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. (Job 1:21) How do you respond when tragedy strikes? The first question many ask is, “Why?” Why me? Why now? Why this? Job’s wife felt the full force of the calamity that struck Job.

Tragedy Hit Job’s Wife

Wrap yourself in his wife’s robe. Job was a God-fearing, God-honoring man. Even God recognized his integrity. (2:3) God had blessed Job and his wife with ten children and enormous wealth—flocks, herds, and servants. Both Job and his wife held positions of honor in their society. Then one day, with no warning and for no apparent reason, all their animals and servants were killed or stolen, and all their children died in a windstorm. They lost almost everything that meant anything. Their losses robbed them of their identity—their face—but they still had one another and their health. Job’s response?

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. 

Job 1:21

Sometime later, Job broke out with painful sores from his feet to his head. Everyone assumed his suffering meant he’d committed some horrendous sin. 

Response of Job’s Wife to Tragedy

How her heart must have broken as Job’s wife watched her devastated and shamed husband sitting among the ashes scraping his sores with broken pottery. She reacted:

Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!

Job 2:9

Had Satan won with Job’s wife, or was he using her to tempt Job? Did her words reveal her anguish rather than her convictions? I’ve lashed out in anger and despair, then wished I hadn’t. Have you?

Scholars interpret her words in multiple ways.

• She was angry with God because of the undeserved suffering she and Job experienced.
• Job’s wife was angry with her husband for refusing to fight back.
• She was speaking out of love and sympathy for Job but inadvertently playing into Satan’s hand.
• Hebrew has no question marks. So, perhaps she was praising Job for maintaining his integrity in such difficult circumstances. Was God speaking through her?
• The literal translation of “curse God” is “bless God.” Context (or the translator) determines the meaning. Job’s wife may have been encouraging him to bless, not blaspheme, God as he died.

Our Response to Tragedy

Many of us can identify with the devastation Job’s wife felt. Some believe suffering proves there is no loving, powerful God. Although Job and his wife questioned God’s justice, they never questioned his existence. Others blame God for evil and suffering, but the book of Job doesn’t explain evil’s origin. When calamity comes, many connect it to their behavior, claiming they don’t deserve what’s happened to them. However, Job challenges that assumption. God didn’t rebuke Job for questioning but for assuming he could understand God’s ways. We know some catastrophes are the fault of human actions, some the result of human frailty, and some because of our broken world. Humanity’s free will means we can’t blame God for everything that happens. God offers believers two gifts amid suffering:

1. His presence: 

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. 

Psalm 23:4

He is present with his followers even when we can’t feel him.

2. His promise:

… in all things God works for the good of those who love him.

Romans 8:28

If we love and follow him, God will bring good from the heartache we endure. Maybe not immediately and perhaps not how we expect, but in the time and manner that accomplishes his loving purposes for our good and his glory.

Loss is inevitable. But we have a choice whether we allow it to divide us from our Father or draw us closer to him. Which will you choose?