Insight for Living

Pastor Chuck Swindoll: It all finally overwhelmed Mrs. Job. And she came to him one day for a visit. And she asked, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die."

I want to say four things about Mrs. Job and why she would do this. First, she too had lost ten children.

Until you or I have lost ten children, let's stay quiet about criticizing Mrs. Job. Who knows what you would do in the backwash of that kind of grief? I can't even imagine.

So she too was lost in her grief. And in the weakening struggle of that grief, she blurted this out. Second, she too had suffered the loss of their wealth and possessions.

And as every wife here knows, whose husband may have made it financially, there are benefits and pleasures that come in a home like that. Those were her possessions, too.

Those were her livestock and source of income, and she was reduced to the same level as he economically. Third, I would add, she had enjoyed for a long time being the wife of the man who, verse three of chapter one, was the greatest of all the men of the East.

There's prestige with that. There's honor with that. There is some sense of popularity and pleasure in that. She is no longer the leading lady of the community. She's the tragic wife of a man who's finished.

Let me add, fourth, she's lost her companion. She no longer has her beloved to enjoy a quiet give and take of conversation, no longer lovely and private moments of romance and lovemaking. No hope that that will ever change or that he will ever be okay again.

Job. Let's just pull the plug. Don't go on like this. I can't stand it. Curse God, he'll take you.

Now, with that as a background, and you've listened patiently to me as I have given you another side of this. Let me, let me say a couple of practical comments to you who are wives. Can I do that? Just think of it as little counsel from Mars to Venus. You know, that'll, that'll help, okay?

I want to give you something always to do and never to do. Okay? And I, I really mean this sincerely. First of all, always. Always guard your words when your husband is going through terribly hard times.

I want to tell you a little bit about men in a minute, because I know very little about women, but I know a lot about men, and so I want to tell you about us men. But the point I want you to get is always guard your words when you know your husband's going through a terribly hard time.

Hard times weaken men. For some reason, they seem to strengthen women. And we admire you for that, but we men are weakened when times stay very hard for us.

In our weakened condition, we lose our objectivity and our stability. Our discernment is also skewed. Our determination lags. We become vulnerable. We don't quite know how to handle ourselves in a vulnerable state. You women do very well with vulnerability, but we men do not.

And we are, curse the thought, for me to say it, we are afraid. When men become afraid, strange things happen inside us.

We don't understand ourselves. We entertain alien thoughts that are very unusual for us. So in light of all of this, hear me. We need your wisdom and perspective and spiritual strength. Hear that as prayer, as you've never prayed for us before. We need your prayers.

We need your emotional support. Actions always better than words. We need that. We even find it hard to say, "I need you right now." My wife could tell you that she lived with me for ten years before she ever thought I had a need for her. I say that to my shame.

In hours of great trial, nobody's words mean more to us than our wives. That is one of the God-given reasons you and your partner were called to be together.

When we men lose our way, you wives help us find our way back. Now, never. Never suggest that we compromise our integrity. Even if it would provide temporary relief. Don't ever do that.

Because we may, we may be so weak, we'll believe you. Since we haven't the strength at that time, in Job's case, that kind of trial, which I can't imagine, and a lot less than that. When we are weakened, we are temptable, we are easily seduced by words that offer relief.

By words that offer relief, because for a man, relief is the most important thing. When times are really hard. That's why many a man under a time of testing will begin an affair. Not justifying it for a moment. I'm just saying that's why.

God had said he's, he holds fast his integrity, and she, of all things, said to him, "Why do you want to keep doing that?" No, no, no, no, Mrs. Job, this is your moment, Job. Whatever we do, stand fast.

I'll go with you wherever we have to go. I'll endure whatever we have to endure, but don't compromise your integrity. Stand with God in this.

Now, Job has a magnificent response. He said to her, verse 10, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks."

I got to tell you, hats off, in his weakened state and sitting there in the pain of those sores, not knowing if that would ever change. He stood and, and he reproved her, and he said to his wife, "I need to correct the course of where you're going with this conversation." Don't go there.

Second, he has a great response to his condition. "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" Magnificent theology. So strangely heard these days, rarely, rarely said, never in the secular system.

What kind of a God is that that'll treat you like this after you have lived like that? Why in the world would you stand fast when this so-called loving God who loves you so much, he would not do anything to hurt you? Wait, wait a minute.

Look at this. I love the statement. "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?"

The Hebrew sentence reads, "The good shall we accept from God, and the trouble shall we not accept?" Emphasizing the good and the trouble. It's a rhetorical question, not asked to be answered, but asked for the purpose of thinking.

Doesn't he have the right? Isn't he the potter? Aren't we the clay? Isn't he the, the shepherd and we the, the sheep? Isn't he the master and we the servant? Isn't that the way it works?

Robert Alden in his fine work on Job writes very practically. This is a hard lesson for some believers to learn, especially if they have been promised health and wealth or have misunderstood that God's wonderful plan for their lives involves only pleasantness and not trouble.

Believers on this side of the cross, hear this. Have many more examples from both the Bible and church history of God's people who have suffered. Job was much more in the dark. Yet out of that darkness his strong belief in the sovereignty of God shown forth all the more brilliantly. Somehow he already knew that the clay does not ask the potter, "What are you making?"

No, no, no, no, sweetheart, let's don't go there. We serve a God who has the right to do whatever he does and is never obligated to explain it or ask permission.

Shall we receive only good? Is that the kind of God we, we serve? He's a heavenly bellboy who waits for our phone call and we, we ring up for room service and he brings it and says, "My pleasure." Whatever. What kind of God is that? That's a capricious imagination.

The God we serve has a game plan that is beyond our comprehension. Such times as this notwithstanding.

One of my daughters said to me, since we're all these days in the Swindoll home, sort of going through the dregs of trials. She said to me, "Daddy, now again, how long are you going to be on Job?"

I thought about an answer. I think we're going to do Job in segments. We're going to end with this message, and ten years from now we're going to take up the next section.

I'll I told you, and I'm, I'm now a living example of it, not asking for pity, asking for prayer, however. It's hit us from all sides. Nothing like this. This was an unbelievable past week for us. And I think for a number of you.

And one thing follows another, which follows yet another, which follows yet another. Enough already.

And I love his last line, which is a resolve, in all this, Job did not sin with his lips. There's absolute trust there. There's faith there.

Sweetheart, we can't explain it. We would never have wanted it. Our hearts are broken over the loss. We've, we've lost everything. But we've not lost a faithful God who has a plan that is unfolding and cannot be explained.

I began this message by referring to Johnny Gunther. I, I close this message by referring to you. And I want to share with you what I think will be three lessons, three principles, if you will, and some advice that I believe will be helpful for you, if not now, soon.

Number one. Since our lives are full of trials, we need to remember there are always more to come. Isn't that a fun thought?

Since our lives are full of trials, Job himself said it. We are born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. Since our lives are full of trials, we need to remember there are always more to come. They are inevitable, don't be surprised.

Stay awake in the Pentagon. Be aware wherever you are that because one place was hit, it doesn't mean this place is immune. It means this may be next. Peter wrote this way, First Peter 4:12, "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you."

Don't think it's strange. Since our lives are full of trials, there are more to come.

Here's a second. This is not just for the wives, this is for all of us, but I draw it from the story of the wife. Since our world is fallen, we need to understand that there are those who love us, but will give us wrong advice.

Since our world is fallen, those who love us may give us wrong advice. I lived my life, these 65 plus years, having received wrong advice on a number of occasions from people who love me greatly. They were just simply wrong. They didn't mean to be wrong. But they were.

So don't be fooled. Here's the advice. Don't be fooled. Just because he is your husband and advises you of such and such, doesn't mean that advice is good to follow.

Just because he or she is a partner in your business and advice is given, doesn't mean that's good advice. Square that with the principles of the book. This is the standard. This is our guide. Right here. This is what we use. This is the part that's inspired. If it contradicts this, stop it. You speak as one of the foolish women.

Sweetheart, I love you, but I can't go there. Good point for me to say, choose your words real carefully. Say less when you're around a person going through a lot. Just say less.

It's amazing what a wonderful, warm hug, embrace, just simple words like I, I've never been there, but I, I'm loving you through this. Those are just about the best things you could say.

And if God does reveal something to you that you think needs to be shared, try not to share it as a lecture. Just say, "I'm, I'm wondering if maybe this will help." Because I will say, on the other side, I have received advice very casually from individuals who love me that have just turned the corner for me.

And we long for that, don't we? How great it would have been if his wife had simply embraced him and loved him through this and said, "I, I'm going to be here till the last day of your life. I'm here with you through this. I don't understand it any more than you do, but I'm here."

There's a third principle. This is so valuable. Since our God is sovereign, we must prepare ourselves for blessing and adversity. He's unpredictable. Don't be disillusioned.

Because our God is sovereign, we must prepare ourselves for blessing and adversity. Don't leave that last part out, and adversity. He's unpredictable. Don't be disillusioned.

In my research for this message, I, I came across the writings of one Francis I. Anderson, spelled S.E.N. Francis Anderson, medical doctor and archaeologist, biblical scholar and author from Australia.

And he, his words just sort of jumped off the page and landed right in front of me yesterday. I raced into the bathroom, Cynthia was getting dressed, and I said, "Honey, you've got to hear this." And I, I read her exactly what I'm going to read you. Listen to these words.

"Job finds nothing wrong with what has happened to him. It is equally right for God to give gifts and to retrieve them." Round one. "It is equally right for God to send good or evil." Round two. "Receive as a good active word, implying cooperation with Providence, not mere submission."

"Such positive faith is the magic stone that transmutes all to gold." "For when the bad as well as the good is received at the hand of God, every experience of life becomes an occasion of blessing."

But the cost is high. Listen to the last sentence. "But the cost is high. It is easier to lower your view of God than to raise your faith to such a height."

Some theologians today have done that. It's called Open Theism. Because bad things are happening to these good people, then God did not know they were going to happen. He could never sense such a thing. And so God is learning in the process as a result of how we respond, what to do next. Omniscience doesn't learn. That's heresy.

Omniscience doesn't discover. You'll never hear the words in God's throne room. I didn't know that. Look, look, Gabriel, look. Whatever.

Our God is in the heavens, he does whatever he pleases. Our God has no obligation to explain himself. Our God does not ever have to invade a hospital room and say, "Now let me explain five reasons this has happened to your son."

And I do not mean to present in any way a cruel God. He is full of compassion, but his plan is beyond our comprehension. Our ways are not as high as his ways, and our thoughts are not his thoughts. As the heavens are high above the earth, so are his ways above ours and in his plan beyond our ability to grasp, Isaiah 55.

And so I say, "Oh God, I trust you." I don't know why I've gone through this. If there's something I can learn, wonderful. If there's something someone else can learn, great. Just get me through it. Just hold me close. Deepen me. Change me. Job, shall we not accept good from God and not accept adversity? He's God.

That's one of the reasons I believe heaven will be such a delightful place. I, I really do. We step into his presence with, for the first time, we get the panoramic view, and we are the ones who go, "Oh, so that's the reason."

Jay Kesler at Taylor University for so many years, good friend, said the first sound you'll hear in heaven when we get there is, "Oh." Should have had a V8. Of course. Absolutely. And to think I had fought that. Look at how it worked together. Look at the message it delivered. Look at how it honored God. Look at how the world stood with their mouths open and watched as we went through this, not complaining, but trusting.

"It is easier to lower your view of God than to raise your faith to such a height." And he adds, "We shall watch the struggle as Job's faith is strained every way by temptations to see the cause of his misfortune as something less than God."

He is totally and completely and absolutely in charge. If he wipes out every member of your family, he is in charge. If he ends your business in abysmal bankruptcy, he is in charge. If the X-ray returns and it couldn't be worse, he is in charge. Get that. Get that teaching.

And how magnificent it is to find those who trust him to the very end of this veil of suffering. Saying, "And may his name be praised and may his name be praised." Don't understand it, can't explain it. May his name be praised. That, that is worship at its highest.

Amen?

Congregation: Amen.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll: Now, Lord, we, um, pause here on the cusp of this message. And my voice trembles a little as I wonder what you have planned for us next. What you have planned for our country, what you have planned for our church, what you have for our families, and what you have for my family.

Lord God, forgive us for the wasted hours we have spent trying to squeeze you into our frame of thinking. Humanizing your work, and defining and describing it in terms of how we or someone we know would have handled something. When you are not at all anywhere near those categories.

I pray that you will guard us from lowering our view of yourself. You will assist us as we raise our faith to a height it has never gone before. Help us, Lord, through these hard times.

And now to him who is able to guard us from stumbling and present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding great joy. To the only wise God, wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, now and forever. In his glorious name through Christ we pray. And all of his people said a rousing.

Congregation: Amen.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll: Do it again.

Congregation: Amen.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll: All right, that's great.

Guest (Male): God is in charge. That's what Job knew, and that's what Chuck Swindoll wants you to walk away with today. Not that life will be easy, not that the pain will stop on your schedule. But that the God who holds the universe together has not let go of you.

You're listening to Insight for Living. We're just getting started in a comprehensive study on the life of Job. Chuck titled today's message about a face-off with our spiritual enemy, Satan versus Job, Round Two. If you're ready to learn more or if you're looking for a creative way to guide your small group Bible study in meaningful discussions. Well, we invite you to request the searching the scriptures Bible study workbook for this series. It's called Job, a man of heroic endurance.

In fact, this Bible study is part of a bundle of resources. This collection includes 22 sermons on CD or MP3, plus Chuck's full-length biography of Job. In his book, which is more than 300 pages long, you get to read Chuck's portrayal of Job's story. And along the way, Chuck infuses practical application that equips you to deal with adversity of any kind. The bundle for Job includes three powerful resources: the spiral bound Bible study workbook, the full collection of sermons from Chuck, and his comprehensive biography of Job, a man of heroic endurance. You can find them online at insight.org/offer. Or call us at 800-772-8888. That's 800-772-8888.

Not too long ago, Chuck invited his friend and colleague, Pastor Greg Laurie, to sit down for a conversation. There's something special about hearing two trusted voices chatting honestly about their lives. During their conversation, both men openly admitted their struggles and how God's grace shapes the way they lead and love. To see and hear the entire interview between Chuck Swindoll and Greg Laurie, stop by our website when you go to insight.org/conversations. That's insight.org/conversations.

I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll shares four pieces of honest counsel for every husband struggling to keep his integrity. Tomorrow, on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Satan versus Job, Round Two, was copyrighted in 2002, 2004, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.