Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

I'm impressed that Job listened to the words of his wife. He pondered them, he considered them, he turned them over in his mind. He neither misunderstood nor ignored her. He heard what she said.

Job's response to his wife's suggestion that he curse God and die is magnificent. "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks" (Job 2:10). Hats off to the old patriarch!

I want to confess that for too long in my ministry I took unfair advantage of Job's wife, especially since she was not present to defend herself. I think it was probably due to immaturity on my part.

When bad things happen, they often happen to the wrong person. And when that occurs, we're always left with that haunting question, "Why?" Somewhere in all of this, there is room for the story of Job.

Without realizing it, by worshiping God during his woes, Job is saying, "In your face, Lucifer! I never set my affections on these things in the first place.

With Job facedown in worship to God, the only one cursing is Satan. He hated it! He resented Job's response! Of all things, the man still worships his God—the One who would allow these catastrophes to happen.

Perhaps Job lay under the stars until he was wet from the dew. Finally, he spoke. And when he did, what a remarkable response! Verse 20 comprises nine words in the Hebrew text.

There is a plan that we explore which we will not understand, but it is best. Though each segment of it may not seem fair or pleasant, it works together for good. The disease Job endured wasn't good in and of itself. Hardly!

Without Job's knowing it, a dialogue took place in the invisible world. As the Lord and Satan had their strange encounter, the subject quickly turned to this well-known earthly man. The Lord calls Satan's attention to Job's exemplary life.

Job does not deserve even the suggestion of mistreatment. He has walked faithfully with God, certainly in his adult years. He is now the best of the best, "greatest of all the men of the east." On top of all that, he is a humble servant of God.

Verses 1 to 5 are full of good news, wonderful blessing, business integrity, purity of heart, faithfulness of life. The man is spiritually mature, domestically diligent, and professionally respected.

Life is difficult. That blunt, three-word statement is an accurate appraisal of our existence on this earth. When the writer of the biblical book named Job picked up his stylus to write his story, he could have begun with a similar-sounding and equally blunt sentence, "Life is unfair."

At the end of Esther's story, we have the same king as at the beginning, King Ahasuerus. We have the same kingdom, where he reigns from India to Ethiopia, more than 127 provinces. We have the same country, Persia.

It was like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's all rolled into one. It was like Berlin on the ninth of November 1989! It was like nothing they had ever seen before. They would sing all night and all the next day because the gloom was lifted!

The law of the Medes and Persians couldn't be changed. The law Haman had written had to stay on the books. But because the heart of the king had been softened by the pleas of Esther, he provided a way . . .

The king's heart is like mush, like soft putty, or we could say like Play-Doh in the hands of the Lord. Just for a moment imagine another name in that proverb in place of "the king." Someone who is giving you grief perhaps.

The workings of God are not related to our clocks; they are related to our crises. That's why God doesn't care if this is the last day you can buy that car on sale. It doesn't bother God that it is the first day of summer or high noon or a quarter after seven.

All the time Haman was having the gallows built, he could see—enthusiastically anticipate—Mordecai impaled there. Now he is condemned to die there himself. We call this irony. Theologians call it sovereignty.

The plot thickens as the excitement builds. Esther plans a banquet for the king and Haman. Blinded by his own conceit, Haman thinks the queen wants to honor him.

Talk about the power of a woman! Can you believe Esther's diplomacy and sensitivity, even in the midst of pleading for her life and the lives of her people? "If we were only being sold into slavery, I wouldn't have troubled you with this matter."