Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2014
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes…
Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.’ But he said to her, ‘… Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. –Job 2
Questions to ponder
Why do we suffer? Is our suffering caused by God? By Satan? By life? Is there any meaning in it?
O God, we do not understand. In our confusion, may we turn to you for comfort and strength. Amen.