Friday, January 14

Job 19:25-27

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;

I myself will see him with my own eyes – How my heart yearns within me!

The Bible says that Job was “the greatest man of all the people of the East.” He was “blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil.” He also happened to have a large happy family and was fabulously successful. Then, as the story goes, due to Satan’s desire to destroy his love for God, Job suffers cataclysmic loss.

He loses his household servants.

He loses his herds of sheep, cattle and camels.

He loses his children – all 14 of them.

And finally he loses his health – his body covered with feverish boils and blisters.

His physical condition becomes so repulsive that his own wife tells him he should just “Curse God and die (Job 2:8).”

When Job’s three friends come to visit him they are so overwhelmed by his appearance and suffering that they sit in silence for seven days before speaking a word.

There was never a better man than Job.

There was never a man who suffered more loss than Job.

There was never a man who deserved that suffering less than Job.

But suffering, pain and loss still invaded his life.

The Book of Job is not easy to read. It begins with the story of Job’s almost unimaginable losses. But then comes chapter after chapter of arguing between Job and his friends about the causes of his suffering. Everyone tries to explain WHY all these bad things have happened; everyone tries to establish blame.

At the end of the story God finally speaks – but he doesn’t’ explain to Job WHY all this has happened to him. God doesn’t answer the dozens of questions that Job and his friends have tossed his way. He simply demonstrates who he is – and that is enough.

At the depth of his suffering and sorrow, Job makes a statement to his friends that sounds like the prayer of a man who has no where else to turn for hope – but a man who has hope nonetheless.

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;

I myself will see him with my own eyes – How my heart yearns within me!

Somewhere I heard someone say, “God never wastes our pain.” I believe that is true – and that’s why Job can maintain such faith and hope in the midst of his suffering. Our Redeemer lives. Our Redeemer does not waste our pain. Our Redeemer can and will transform our suffering into his good and his glory – therefore we can not only come to God with out pain – but we can some to him in hope as well.

Brian Coffey