i know how job's wife felt. not that i've lost my children or any of my stuff...indeed, i have way too much stuff!
but sometimes i think about mrs. job and wonder about her motivation. just what made her say those awful words and seal her reputation forever? i think i know. (this is completely speculative and extra-biblical so don't take it as theology.) i think job's wife saw her husband devastated, afflicted, financially ruined, and all because of what? from all she could see, he'd lived his life as a Godly man, tried his best, and had set a good earthly example of a "Christian" in how he lived before her and his family. and not only did it all go terribly wrong, but to top it all off, he received NO solace from his friends and brothers in the Lord! no, instead, he received rebukes and accusations. i think THIS is what made job's wife despair. when her husband cried out to his own, they stabbed him in the back. why do i understand this to be the case? because i've seen it happen. and though she should have chosen her words FAR more carefully, i think she was just paralyzed because she had no words to comfort him when the men who should have bound his wounds and given him hope did neither. woe to those who do not bring comfort and kind words when it is within their power to do so! thank God for the few, the happy few, who are a blessing to their brothers and sisters in Christ and not a curse! it is hardest for a helpmate to see her spouse struggle with all the "shoulda-coulda-wouldas" and question himself to distraction when all along a kind word could be as gold in a setting of silver.
sometimes...i just want to go very far away from the ministry and wrap myself around a deserted isle.