I’m pretty certain the title of this post caught your attention! I purposely labeled it that because in many instances in your walk with Christ, you may be surrounded by people who have the absolute BEST intentions, but like Job’s wife who said that to Him in Job 2:9:
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.”
Now, before we get all “judgy’ over her – let’s remember that she too just lost ALL of her children in a matter of ONE day. She too lost EVERYTHING that Job had lost – she was his wife. And in the midst of ALL that, here sat her once strong and “highly favored of God” husband in anguish, in pain, body covered with sores, suffering. I like to believe that in her despair and not knowing what else to say or do – she said that. It was wrong and it was certainly unhelpful! I don’t know what her relationship with God was prior to all that Job went through, maybe she didn’t have a personal relationship with God. Maybe she was full of pride over how successful he was – what I’m saying is WE DON’T KNOW. And her reaction was NOT helpful to Job in his current situation, it did NOT bring him comfort and probably annoyed the heck out of him! If you look at Job 1:1-6 you can see that Job was concerned with his children that they in some way sinned against God and “cursed Him (God) in their hearts. Perhaps Job felt that way because of the attitude towards God that his wife had. We truly don’t know (and it is not up to us to judge her – we can leave the judging to God). But take a look at Job 1:1-6 below:
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus, Job did continually.
What Job did was what we consider “interceding” through prayer and offerings before the Father. So, it makes sense that his reaction to his wife would be seen in Job 2:10:
But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
We live in a fallen, sinful world that is full of hardships. We have an enemy, satan (and yes, I did not capitalize his name purposely for he is not worthy of the capitalization of his name) who would like NOTHING better than for you to lose faith in God! He wants you to “curse God and die.” He wants you to walk away from the One Who loved you enough to send His Son down to die for forgiveness of OUR sins! He HATES God and he HATES you because he KNOWS how much God LOVES you!
Remember, Job had NO idea of the spiritual warfare that was going on in the spirit realm BEHIND what he was experiencing in the EARTHLY realm, take a look at Job 1:6-12:
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and satan also came among them. The Lord said to satan, “From where you have come?” satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And 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, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
If satan can do this with Job, do you not think he does the same with us??? We do NOT know what is going on behind the battle lines of whatever we are facing in the earthly realm. We KNOW that a spiritual battle IS going on, that is why we need to make sure that we are girded up in our spiritual armor as spoken about in Ephesians Chapter 6. That is why we need to be covered IN prayer! That is why we need to make sure that we are getting God’s Word IN us so that Holy Spirit can bring certain verses front and center from our hearts to our minds because our minds are where the spiritual battle occurs.
I am pretty sure you can think about when people who “meant” well said something along the same lines to you as you encountered a hard or trying time in your life that ONLY God could resolve. Maybe they didn’t tell you:
“Kelly why don’t you curse God and die!”
But maybe they (in their frustration in not knowing what to say to help you or really know WHAT you should do) said something like:
“What is your Plan B? In case this doesn’t work out?”
or (here is one of my favorite ones I’ve heard):
“You’re not thinking rationally or realistically.”
I tell you that TRULY that IS pretty much along the same spirit as to what Job’s wife said to Job. And all of Heaven waits to see how you will respond, if you will respond BY faith or if you will respond by the methods and the means of this world. LISTEN Jesus tells us in John 10:27:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
You have to choose HOW you are going to respond! Are you going to go along with the “Curse God and die” mentality? OR are you going to believe and trust in God to get you through whatever it is you are going through? This is where it says in Psalm 23:4:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
YOU CAN CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE OR YOU CAN CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO GOD
Now, sometimes God USES people, talks through people to you but if it is REALLY of God you will feel a witness of agreement in what they are saying in your spirit. Listen Beloved, we are to follow AFTER God NOT after people. If David had listened to those mocking him for saying he would fight the giant, Goliath, he would not have gone. Was it “rational” or “realistic” for the people to believe that God would (through Moses) part the Red Sea that stood before them so that they could walk on dry ground to safety? Is it “rational” or “realistic” for someone to believe that Someone Who was crucified could defeat death and the grave by being resurrected from the dead???? Yet if you believe the Bible – Jesus did! Defeating and conquering death and sin and redeeming us to a right relationship with the Father! How many people watching Jesus’ being crucified mocked those that followed Him for what they thought was their “blind faith” in Him???? How many people at the time of Paul’s life, wondered WHY God still had Paul remain in prison for his faith? Yet if it wasn’t for that, would we have all the Books in the New Testament that God (through Holy Spirit) had Paul pen? I’m quite sure Paul had NO idea how vast and wide his writings would bless and help those of us who are/were alive centuries later in our walks with Christ! We have NO idea what the FULL story of our lives will glorify God with all we experience and go through. I fully believe that most of what we experience in our walk is for the glory of God. That at some point because of what we have gone through, we are able to extend the right-hand of fellowship behind us to help someone going through what we ourselves have gone through or experienced.
If Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus while stepping off the boat to walk on water to Him and didn’t instead take his eyes off of Jesus and on his incredible situation (which in the eyes of the world was not thinking “realistically” or being “rational”) He would have been able to walk RIGHT into the arms of His Savior. But Jesus (because God is merciful, graceful, patient, longsuffering, forgiving and loving) reached below the waters with His hand and grabbed Peter bringing him to the safety of the boat, but saying in Matthew 8:26:
“He asked them, “Why are you afraid, you who have little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”
Your life is a living testimony of your faith and what God CAN (and WILL) do WITH your life. It is a book that people are reading as you go through it. You can bet the unsaved are watching you waiting to mock you for it. Even believers who are not as strong in their faith as you may be can sometimes say the wrong thing. This is why we are to look at God for what it is HE says to do. How HE says to live. If you have accepted Jesus into your heart as your Savior, made Him Lord OVER your life, it is called a “personal relationship” for a reason. It is between YOU and HIM. Who are you listening to? Whose advice are you receiving? What is God telling you? Do YOU believe the Word of the Lord? WE get to choose. The Bible tells us in Psalm 37:23:
“The steps of the righteous are ordered by God,”
We are to trust in HIM, we are to walk BY faith even when it seems as though we are going against the tide of whatever situation we face. If you think about it, we are! We are not to think “as this world thinks” we are to think as God shows us in His Word through the examples and instructions of those who came before us! We are to live walks of faith trusting God to be our guide through EVERY step of the way. So no matter WHAT we face – we are to worship and praise Him because He alone is our Deliverer, our King, our Lord and Our Savior and even when we feel bewildered if we trust in Him, we will NEVER be brought to shame. Because our trust is in Him! And He knows what’s best! \0/ \0/ \0/
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