If anyone in the Bible knew anything about patience, it would be Job. Job not only waited adversity out and won the victory through God, but lost just about everything that would matter in this human life in the process.

He lost his health, his children, and the respect of his wife and friends. His wife told him just to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Yet this same verse tells us that Job “held fast [to] his integrity.”

To really understand this story in context, it’s crucial we understand where all this adversity came from. Many choose to ignore God or not believe in Him because of the problem of human suffering, yet the Bible tells us that blaming God for these misfortunes is to put blame in the wrong place. The first few verses of chapter 2 show us that Satan wanted to pry Job from the safety of his trust in God. He wanted Job to fall. God allowed Satan to test Job, but only so far and within specific parameters. God does allow things, but He isn’t the author of all of the calamities ascribed to Him!

Thus, in this interminable adoption wait, I am reminded of the oft used, yet apt description of “the patience of Job.” I can learn much from this man and how he dealt with adversity. He, too, waited … and waited … and waited. He had to wait for his body to heal, his friends to wake up to the fact that he had not caused these things to happen to him because of sin, and God even blessed him with more than he had in the beginning … it just took some waiting on Job’s part.

Nothing even close to these situations has occurred to me, so I look at Job as an example of how I should bear these delays.