Daily Devotion for March 9, 2024

 

Devotion:

For an audio version of this devotion, click here.

Read Job 2:7-10.

I am amazed by this man named Job. After all that has happened to him, he refuses to follow the advice of his wife. In the NIV, her question reads “Are you still maintaining your integrity?” Yes, he is. He wants to maintain his relationship with God. He has a lot of questions for God but is willing to stay in the relationship and the conversation. Even though he has a reputation for being a patient man, we find out later in the story that he really doesn’t have a lot of patience in this situation. (Who would?) He is insistent on being able to state his case and wants to know God’s explanation for why this has happened. But he never loses his trust in God. Otherwise, he would have followed his wife’s advice and ended his relationship with God.

When painful experiences come our way in life, it is certainly tempting to either think that God is against us or to lose all faith in God or even the existence of God. I believe part of that comes from some misguided thinking and teaching that says if you always try to be good and do the right thing, that you will always be blessed and nothing bad will ever happen to you. That thinking does not hold up in the life of Job or Jesus. Both felt abandoned by God at one point and yet both maintained their trust.

So, I do not seek the patience of Job. I seek his faith.

Personal Worship Option:

Offer this prayer or put it in your own words: Holy and gracious God, in the painful times of life, help me maintain my integrity of trust in you. Give me strength to be faithful and loyal to you, no matter what comes my way. In the name of the One who trusted in you, even on the Cross, Amen.