Christ Church Daily Devotion March 9 2024

Job, a man who faced great suffering, refused to follow his wife's advice to curse God and maintained his integrity and trust in God. Despite his struggles, he still had faith and wanted to maintain his relationship with God. Job questioned why he was experiencing such hardship but never lost his trust in God. The speaker emphasizes that when we face difficult times, it is tempting to lose faith, but we should strive to have the same faith as Job. The suggested worship option is to pray for strength and loyalty to God during painful times. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for March 9, 2024. Today we will be reading from Job chapter 2, verses 7-10. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die. 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. I am amazed by this man named Job. After all that has happened to him, he refuses to allow 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. I mean, 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 certainly is 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. Your personal worship option today is to offer a prayer or another like this or put into 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 trusts in you, even on the cross. Amen.