Bad Advice

Job 1–5

Bad Advice

“Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God and die.” (Job 2:9)

Job had problems. In a matter of a few days he had lost all his great possessions, his children, and his health. Now in our verse he discovers that he has also lost the encouragement of his wife. Things were not going well for Job.

Job’s wife, unlike Job, did not have the faith and character that Job had. She, like multitudes in every age, viewed the problems of life with a pessimistic, ungodly attitude. In her advice to Job, she told Job two things. She told Job what to say and she told Job what to do. Neither of these two things was good advice, but rather it was very bad advice. Yet it is the reaction of many people in trouble.

What to say. “Curse God.” Cursing God is horrible advice. But it is what most folk do today when troubles mount. From stubbing one’s toe to some major catastrophe, man’s frequent reaction to trouble is to curse, to use the name of God profanely. When something adversely happens to a person, too often the person spews out a string of profanities. These folk are following the advice of Job’s wife right to the letter. But such speech, of course, does not solve any problems. It only aggravates them. You need God’s help in troubles, and cursing is hardly the way to get the help you need.

What to do. “Die.” In principle this advice simply means to quit. Job’s wife so much as said, “Why keep going; why keep up your faith in God; throw in the towel and quit.” Again Job’s wife expressed very plainly the attitude of many when trouble comes. They simply quit. Indeed Job’s troubles were very great, and the natural reasoning would conclude it was all over. But Job did not quit. He saw more than his circumstances and his problems. He also saw the Lord, the great problem solver.

We all have troubles. But how we react to our troubles has a lot to do with whether our troubles will defeat and destroy us or whether we will overcome them. Cursing and quitting is the way to defeat. The way to victory is to honor God in spite of your troubles and to keep going.

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