Job's suffering is done! This is a day that Job probably thought would never come. The sun was brighter, the sky bluer and the grass greener! Oh what a happy day!
I find it interesting though that Job's restoration was given only a couple of paragraphs at the end of the book. After chapters and chapters of suffering, anguish, debate, pleading and theorizing. Only a couple paragraphs are devoted to the restoration of his life. Perhaps God is more concerned with the matters of our heart and those things that change us and mold us than He is in blessings.
Don't get me wrong, God loved Job. God loves us. He loves blessing us! He gave Job double what he had before. He opened up the store houses in heaven and poured out blessings on Job. He even gave Job more children. He didn't double the number of children Job had before but gave him exactly the same number. I think maybe that is because children are irreplacable and no matter how many more children Job had, they would never replace the ones that were lost. Anyways, back to what I was saying...
God blessed Job but He wasn't all that concerned with it. He was more concerned with the state of Job's heart. Even though God never really answered Job or explained why He had allowed Job to suffer so, Job realized that he had been pretty arrogant in his doubting God. He repented and acknowledged that God is God and he is not. I think that is what God cared about.
God cared about the hearts of Job's friends. He was angry that they had been misrepresenting Him. Their arguments were based on the idea that only the wicked suffer. That the righteous (innocent) do not suffer and that is just not reality. We all face trials and tribulations no matter our righteousness or lack of it. It's how we face those trials that are the true test. In the end, God let Job be the mediator for his friends. He told Job to pray for his friends. I think that was so Job's heart could begin to heal and forgiveness could enter in.
It is difficult to stay angry at someone that we are praying for. Especially when we really know God is listening. God told Job and his friends that He would hear Job's prayer and not punish them like He wanted to. That was a big responsibility for Job and one he may not have wanted all that much. He might have secretly been wishing that God would punish his friends. But again, God was concerned with Job's heart, and He knew that the first step towards forgiveness was prayer.
I wonder what that did to the hearts of Job's friends. To be told, flat out, by God "I'm angry with you" and then be told that the person they hurt the most was the very one that was going to intervene on their behalf with God, I wonder how that made them feel. I would like to know what happened to their hearts. How did all of this change them? How did they go on to live their life? Were they more understanding? Were they kinder? Did they have more of a servants heart? Did they interecede on behalf of their fellow man? We don't know what happened to Job's friends but I have no doubt that they were never the same.
Job made it through this trial. He went on to live a full and happy life. He was wealthy once again. But more than anything, he was changed. He was not the same Job inside or out. His heart was different and miraculously, through all the suffering, he more than likely loved his God more then he did before.
I pray that I listen for God's voice the next time I'm faced with a trial or hardship. I pray that my heart is changed and that my eyes stay on God. I pray that my trust in Him is renewed and that I am stead fast in my faith. I pray that God will bless me but more than anything, I pray that God will change me.
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