Being Faithful In God’s Silences
Did you ever wonder what happened to Job’s wife? In the biblical record, she enters the scene when he is at a low point. He has no money, no material goods, lacks a prestigious position, is spiritually misunderstood by the religious community, and is something of a societal misfit. He has great potential, based on his past, but it is not being actualized. Job is not a good ‘catch.’ He is not living the kind of life that would make a woman want to be with him. Since he had “painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head” (Job 2:7), he is probably not very pleasant to look at and, one would guess, less than cheerful to be around. It is in this context that his wife first appears (Job 2:9). Like Job’s friends, she, too, has difficulty believing his strange views.
His wife is only mentioned two other times in the book: in 19:17 he says his disease-ridden breath is offensive to his wife and in 31:10 where Job mentions her as part of his self-curse if what he is saying to his friends is substantially wrong. What happened to her? Did she stay with Job in all his trials or leave him? These two verses don’t clearly tell us one way or the other and she is not mentioned as part of his being returned to wealth, prestige, blessing, spiritual insight, authority, and God’s visible favor. Yet, since no mention is made of his new children’s mother, it appears reasonable to conclude that this was the same wife Job had previously.
Think about this. It has been said that Job’s trial lasted about two years. This was plenty of time for her to leave him and start a new life. Yet, despite her problems and the way she unintentionally added to Job’s problems (2:9), she seems to have been loyal. This would surely require faith and self-sacrifice. She viewed them as being married “for better or worse.” In short, she appears to have been a remarkable person. As with Job, she was also blessed for her faithfulness. The Lord apparently enabled her to be fruitful with more children and to have a very meaningful life with a man that others recognized as being a great man of God.
Have you been faithful but received little recognition for it? Have you gone through great trials – or maybe you still are going through them – but others don’t really know and, thus, don’t appreciate you? We don’t even know the name of Job’s wife. Worse, we aren’t clearly told that she was a good woman. God even allows us to have an impression of her as being faithless (2:9). At least with Job, the reader knows that the friends who accuse him are wrong. They know Job is righteous. Not so with his wife. We are left pondering. As the Lord was silent for two years in His approval of Job, so He is silent in His praise of Job’s wife.
Are you willing to not complain about God’s silences? One day, we will stand before Him and be publicly vindicated as belonging to Christ. May Job’s wife remind us that His silences need not be signs of His disapproval. In fact, they are opportunities for us to be like Him who was not concerned with being unappreciated and misunderstood even when He was crucified.
Comforting others is costly but worth it.