The book of Job details Job’s loss of children, servants, and possessions (Job 1:14-19). After Satan also harmed Job physically (Job 2:7), Job’s wife asked, “Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die” (Job 2:9). Job answered, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (verse 10).
Job did not understand why things happened to him as they did, and this sparked a conversation between him and his friends (Job 3-37). This conversation and God’s response teach lessons about trying to answer questions that are part of the secret things that belong to God (Deut. 29:29).
An important lesson from the beginning of Job, though, is that obedience to God should not be grounded on “having our way.” The song “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” expresses a mindset that leads to obedience at whatever cost. “Mold me and make me after thy will” is far different from, “if God makes my life what I want, then I will serve Him.”
Loving God with all of the heart, all of the soul, all of the mind, and all of the strength will lead us to serve God to the best of our ability and be content with all else.
Job’s wife viewed obedience as something that is contingent on God giving us what we want. Job saw differently.
The answer to the question, “Do you still maintain your integrity?” should always be, “Yes.” Our love for God must be unconditional.
– Michael Hickox