IN THE MIDST OF TRIALS

Job and Joseph

Part 2f

Not only did the LORD God restore Job, but he actually gave him a double portion as we learned in Part 2e. Job 42:12 says “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more then the first…” God didn’t restore him by bringing back his children he had lost, but by blessing him with more children. His double portion is found in heaven when he will be reunited with all of his children. His earthly double portion was found in his livestock where God blessed him with twice as much as he had before.

In all of Job’s story, God received the glory. Why? Because in the end, Job, although never understanding why God allowed him to suffer, never cursed God to his face. And while Job did suffer greatly, God worked everything out for Job providentially by blessing him abundantly, strengthening his relationship with God, and also added faith and maturity to his walk.

All calamities become blessings in disguise…EVERYTHING. Like loosing our loved ones who may disown us or speak harshly toward us, or our religion or beliefs. We may be judged and accused or condemned and slandered. Whatever it is, God takes every calamity and uses it for good.

At times we know why we are suffering. Other times we never know. But in it all, God is there working everything out for his glory and our good (Romans 8:28) because:

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 1:6

God does this through his providential connecting of things that are done through His sovereignty. He either causes all things to happen or, as in Job and Joseph’s case, allows them to happen. And in His providence, there is both the possibility for us to experience good and bad, righteous and evil, negative and positive. “God cannot sin nor can he endure it. But he will use it to accomplish his purposes.” (Tony Evans)

Joseph was only 17 when God began writing the pages of his story. He had nothing as a child except for a coat, yet was blessed above and beyond while God worked everything out for His glory and Joseph’s good, as he walked through his sufferings for twenty-two years.

Job, on the other hand was grown, and blessed as a prosperous, righteous man, when all that he had was stripped away from him. He suffered greatly, yet Gods providential hand was still there, even when it felt like he wasn’t.

In both stories, God in His sovereignty allowed for the sufferings to occur because, as sovereign, He saw the bigger picture and final outcome for both Job and Joseph. This is important to remember. When dealing with Gods providence, we are never, in our finite mind’s eye, able to see the bigger picture or all the details of our story that God is working out for His glory and our good.

The Lord is connecting the pieces of our sufferings, whether we understand them or not, so that He can help us to reach our destiny; to have a deep intimate relationship with Him and to be used by Him so others can also have a deep intimate relationship with Him. And the reason God does not allow us to see all of the details that He is working out as He is writing our story, is because He wants us to walk in faith, trusting Him completely.

In Part 2g, I brought out two points earlier in Job’s story that I believe are very important to those reading this blog series. The first was that in just moments, Job lost everything and everyone he knew and loved. As I studied the story of Job, this point brought back memories of all that I had personally lost…