*Scripture: Job 2:1--3:10 (NKJV)* 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." 3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause." 4 So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" 6 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life."
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. 11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place--Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great. 3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job spoke, and said: 3 "May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, 'A male child is conceived.' 4 May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, nor the light shine upon it. 5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it. 6 As for that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice among the days of the year, may it not come into the number of the months. 7 Oh, may that night be barren! May no joyful shout come into it! 8 May those curse it who curse the day, those who are ready to arouse Leviathan. 9 May the stars of its morning be dark; May it look for light, but have none, and not see the dawning of the day; 10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide sorrow from my eyes." *Devotion* There is a different kind of suffering in physical affliction. It has a different feel in the mind and soul. It may not be as bad as losing one's children, but it is its own kind of terror. In the first chapter of the book Job suffers the loss of all his wealth, all his accomplishments in this world, and above all, his children. This kind of devastation brings with it a loss of hope for the future. All that one has built up is gone. With the death of a man's children he feels that there is no purpose, no future. There will be no weddings to attend, no accomplishments for them, no grandchildren. With the affliction of the body comes perhaps fear of death, but certainly fear of incapacity and helplessness. At this point, one does not fear a quick death or no life at all. Job wishes he had never been born. One fears the possibility of being helpless for a long time, maybe permanently. Job shows us what it is to be stripped down to nothing. No hope for the future and helplessness in the present. Job's great wisdom is in rejecting his wife's admonition. Because all a man has left in that circumstance is the hope of Heaven with his God. To throw that away is to lose everything. When we are stripped of everything, that is when we must hope for the world to come. The good that comes from the evil is that we become focused on what ultimately matters. We find our hope in Christ.
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