Well, glory!!  I have made it all the way through Job to chapter 42 and as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I have read through the entire book of Job several times, but this time…this time when I started this (what…sadly started over 3 months ago with this post) study of Job, this time I got help.

Before, I only read Job because it was part of the Bible.  I had to read through it to check off my read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year box or the read-the-entire-Bible-because-you’re-a-Christian-and-what-you’re-supposed-to-do box.  But this time I felt God tugging at me to actually read it.  To figure out what it had to say and so I asked Him to help me.  And y’know what?

He did!!

Why does it always shock me when He works like that?!!

“Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see.”   Isaiah 42:18

I guess what shocked me as I went through Job is how much I got out of it.  I understood it!  It wasn’t just a bunch of old guys pointing fingers and yelling at each other.  It was really interesting!!  So now that I’m in the last chapter, the chapter where Job is finally restored to bigger and better things (come on, we all know the story…)

But that was all the story I knew.  Poor Job got everything taken away, he has terribly mean friends, but he kept the faith and got rewarded…man, he won the Powerball at the end!!

The moral of the story was just hang in there…

…and with a little persistence, God will reward you.  Which of course He can, but it’s so much more!!  (That you can read in my older posts)!  🙂

In this final chapter, it makes my own point…the reason I write this blog; God has a plan for everything.  He works in every situation, every breath, every moment and all we have to do is look for Him.  We take so much for granted in this life.  The beauty, the mystery, the smells, the tastes, warm breezes, cool rain and we often forget that God created all of this, all of us, for His enjoyment.

He loves to see us happy, longs to hear us laugh and when we make it through the hard times and can see the good that came from it…He receives the glory.

It’s what happens once we’re done with the struggle, that Job finally gets… when we finally get it and are able to see clearly.

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You”   Job 42:5

Plus, it’s nice that Job is finally vindicated in front of his friends…but the thing that was so touching to me, where I saw Christ most clearly, was through the forgiveness that Job had for his friends.  He prayed for them.

“The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends…”   Job 42:10

Sure, they gave him some crummy advice, but don’t we all give rotten advice sometimes?  (Especially when we think we’re right?!)

Mmmm…hmmm.

But it was when Job wasn’t expecting God to replenish all he had, when he was still suffering so much loss, that he thought of them and prayed.

My Life Application Study Bible notes say it best:

Would the message of the book of Job change if God had not restored to Job his former blessings?  No.  God is still sovereign.  Jesus said that anyone who gives up something for the kingdom of God will be repaid.  Our complete restoration may not be in this life — but it will happen.  God loves us, and He is just.  He not only will restore whatever we have lost unjustly, but He also will give us more than we can imagine as we live with Him in eternity.  Cling tightly to your faith through all your trials, and you too will be rewarded by God — if not now, in the life to come.

 

“Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”   Luke 18:29-30

Older Job posts:
I need a new… [Job 1-2]
with friends like these… [Job 4-25 reflections]
Are Job’s Friends All That Bad? [Job 1-2]
Are you a drama queen? [Job 3]
Shut don’t go up… [Job 7]
The beauty of a collector [Job 9]
You know what happens when you ASS-U-ME [Job 1-9 reflections]
Liar, liar, pants on fire! [Job 11]
Look around! [Job 12-13]
Put up your dukes! [Job 15]
Sticks and stones… [Job 18]
I pity the fool… [Job 20-21]
I am with you always. [Job 23-24]
Show some compassion! [Job 25-28]
Woe is Me  [Job 29]
Desperate Pleas.   [Job 30-31]
The mysterious Elihu…  [Job 32]
Shhhh…God always has an answer   [Job 33]
The witching hour…  [Job 38-39]
High Winds…  [Job 38-41]