The book of Job directly mentions Job's wife twice and implies her presence once. Job's wife has a typically human reaction to the pain they both endured, which contrasts with Job's godly reaction. She abandoned Job spiritually and emotionally, but the Scripture implies that she did not abandon him physically. After Job lost his health and he and his wife had lost all their children and wealth, his wife wanted him to "curse God" (Job 2:9). She felt pain at the destruction of all that she held dear but didn't react with wisdom as Job did (Proverbs 14:1). Job chastised her for her foolishness (Job 2:10). Later, God restores Job's life by giving him more children and restoring his wealth and health. That he had more children suggests that his wife did not abandon him physically (Job 42:13). The lesson we get from Job and his wife is to trust God even in the midst of our pain, knowing that His purposes will prevail for our good (Proverbs 3:5-6; Romans 8:28).
Have you ever been out to dinner with someone who pays more attention to his phone than to you? We all probably have that experience of feeling completely alone, though we are with others. Job was written thousands of years before the smartphone, but he likely could identify with that feeling. His wife was with him physically but was distant spiritually nor emotionally. Though Job remained faithful to God, his wife derided his faithfulness at the very time that he needed her support the most.
Everyone has a broken umbrella—the one that turns inside out in a rainstorm, leaving you soaked. Believers should never be that broken umbrella, though. Believers are to "Bear one another's burdens" (Galatians 6:2), whether the "another" is a spouse, a friend, a sibling, or even just a fellow Christian we only know through greeting at church. We can pray that God gives them strength to get through their circumstances and can be someone to listen to and encourage them. In this way, we can be a steady shelter in someone else’s storm—an umbrella that doesn’t flip when the wind rises but that holds firm so others can stay dry beneath it. Bearing one another’s burdens means choosing to notice, to stay close, and to speak life when silence would be easier. We all need to remind ourselves and others to trust God even in the midst of our storms. Will we?
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