AFTERMATH

By Sean Fryer

“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”—Job 42:5

We’ve talked a lot about Paul this week, but there is another man named Job in the Old Testament who also suffered a great deal. Job lived the life of luxury, and in the blink of an eye, lost it all. He lost his family, his riches, his home, he even got painful sores all over his body.  Here’s the crazy part: God gave Satan permission to attack Job. I read that story in Job 1 and I find myself asking, Why God would allow this? Well, we need to fast forward to the very end of Job’s story found in Job 42. Go ahead and read that chapter before continuing this devotional.

Look at the aftermath of all that Job went through. The chapter begins with Job speaking to God. All of this suffering brought him to a place where he truly sees God. He has been purified.  In Matthew 5:8, Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God.” Now in Job 42, Job really begins to see just who he is and with that insight, he sees how great God is. His suffering leads to God being glorified, but it goes further than that!

So you see, Job’s trials helped him see God and brought him to a place of true repentance.  And then look at what God does.  “The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part” (Job 42:12). Now I’m not saying that you will always receive more material things after a trial like Job did, but I am saying that God will bless you when you persevere and stay faithful as He sees you through the trial. So, instead of asking WHY, I’ve trained myself to say, Thank You. I have such an earthly perspective, but God looks at us with our eternity in mind.

Look how Job’s life ends. “And so Job died, an old man and full of years” (Job 42:17). He died an old man satisfied with life and ready for eternity with God. Charles Spurgeon once said, “We aren’t all like Job, but we all have Job’s God.” So, though our story might be different and our reaction may even be different, we serve the God that Job served, the God that blessed Job, the God that loved Job. God loves you and wants to bless you through your trials as well. The whole message of the Bible is suffering and death brings resurrection and life. Suffering to glory.  Without suffering there is no glory. If Jesus never died on the cross, there is no resurrection.  Job’s life gives us a small glimpse of this.

Before you finish today, just spend a few minutes thinking of a time in your life that you saw suffering lead to glory.