All’s WELL that ENDS WELL!
June 6
Bible Reading: Job Chapters 40-42
All’s WELL that ENDS WELL!
"And
the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord
gave Job twice as much as he had before. Now the Lord blessed the latter days
of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six
thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He
also had seven sons and three daughters. After this Job lived one hundred and
forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So
Job died, old and full of days" (Job 42:10, 12-13, 16-17).
At the end
of the book of Job we see that God brought an end to Job’s suffering and set
him free to enjoy life again. God’s restoration of Job was immediate and overflowing
as he was given friends (v. 11), material prosperity (v. 12), family (vv.
13–15), and long life (vv. 16, 17). The point to be noted is that God holds a loving
control over every human life, and therefore God can be trusted completely in
all things (Rom. 8:28; 1 Thess. 5:18).
The turning
point in Job’s life came when he prayed for the friends who had spitefully used
him and persecuted him (Matt. 5:44). This represented God’s promised healing
and restoration. Even though our salvation is always by grace through faith,
but our final rewards are according to our work in this earth. The death and
resurrection of Christ will guarantee ultimate restoration for all believers (Rom.
8:17; 1 Cor. 3:21, 22). The mystery of human suffering is not fully explained
in the book of Job. As Wesley Baker puts it: “When the end of the Book of Job comes, there is no answer written out.
There is nothing there that would satisfy the logical mind!”
However, there
are two conclusions we can draw from
the story of Job
- Job’s suffering was not a direct
result of his personal sin. God testified that he was a perfect and an upright man (1:8). God also said
that the reasoning of Job’s three friends—that God was punishing him because of
his sins—was not right (42:8).
- Although Job was not suffering
because he had sinned, yet he was not delivered until he had a vision of his
own nothingness and of God’s greatness (42:1–6) and until he
prayed for his friends (42:10).
Job was
faithful, Satan was wrong and God is vindicated. Job’s livestock is restored
twofold; he receives more sons and daughters; and he lives to see his
descendants for four generations. This is a fitting ending to a story of true
worship and integrity in the face of extreme adversity. How much greater should be our faith on this side of the cross and
empty tomb!
God does not
guarantee this kind of happy ending in this life to everybody who goes through
trials (Heb. 11:36–40), but He does promise to reward all who are true to Him
(Rev. 2:10). End of the story…all’s well
that ends well…!!!
“You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (Jas. 5:11b).
