When we finally reach the end of the book of Job, we find God is ever faithful. We couldn’t have asked for a happier ending. It is summarized for us in verse 12: “So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.”

As we summarize Job’s life, we find that like all the stories in the Bible, it is God’s providence to always bring good out of suffering. God never wastes a hurt! The mistreatment Joseph suffered from his brothers back in Genesis was wrong. As a matter of historical record it will always have been wrong for them to sell him into slavery. But what they intended for evil, God over-ruled for good. And that is just the point. God was as much with Joseph, and his providence was as active on the dark days as on the bright ones. Joseph was but a boy when the heart-wrenching reverses of his life began. It is absolutely marvelous how they worked to help produce the great man he became.

It is our trust in God, just as it was with Joseph, that makes the difficult circumstances in life bearable. It is faithful service despite trying circumstances that makes the happy endings possible. This is just the lesson that Job learned himself, and that Job teaches us all. Job was not only more blessed after his sore trials than he had been before, but his faith, gratitude and happiness were surely greater as well.

So it will be for us all!

Chuck
“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” (Luke 24:5-6)