Think Before you Speak
Job 2: 1-5, 8-10 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”…Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Can you imagine telling someone to just give up and die?
This is a very shocking statement from Job’s wife. Remember, she has lost all her wealth as well and all her children! She is in devastating sorrow. But the huge difference here is that instead of clinging to her husband and gaining strength in his patience during his mourning, she begins to attack him where it really hurts.
Isn’t that a classic human move? Way too often in our times of hurting, we lash out at the very ones closest and most dear to us. Learning to change is identifying our weaknesses and then working to change them. If I notice a habitual, knee jerk reaction let’s say if I do get offended and hurt by something someone said, I aromatically shut down.
If I stop myself from shutting down and maybe even talk to that person in the moment or understand that they are hurting, I free myself from hours, days, months or even years of hurting. Let’s make a point of holding back those attacks and instead acknowledging our hurt and asking for help.
