I remember a time when my husband was sick that I referred to myself as "Mrs. Job". Life was just overwhelming.

My husband was sick, my son wasn't doing well in school, my father-in-law passed away, my mother-in-law passed away, my dad had heart surgery. Then, there was the "other" diagnosis my husband had. Primary sclerosing cholangitis. At one point, I had told a counselor I was seeing that maybe the hardest thing was knowing that he could live for 15 more years and never be any healthier than he was at that point. (2 weeks later we were told that 6 months would be a stretch - talk about feeling guilty)

Anyway - reading Job - these 18 months for me were really nothing like Job's life. And he didn't know why.

I was never told that all this was a result of my sin. Job was.

What I have learned is that there is always a purpose. It might not always be obvious - other times it's obvious but we might not like it. But there is always a purpose.

God has "pruned" me - but has never left me hanging.

Where I am in Job - he feels like he's been left hanging - but we know the rest of the story. Right now, we may feel like we've been left hanging - try to remember that God knows the rest of the story.