Restoration
“And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…” Job 42:10, 12
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The Man from the Land of Uz…
Job’s life never ceases to inspire hope through generations. His experiences are worth a daily reminder. He was
- Rich
- Fruitful
- Favored
Call him the perfect picture of a blessed man and you won’t be wrong… until everything changed.
That’s familiar, right? Someone or something comes to the scene of your life and everything takes a different turn (whether good or bad).
When Life No Longer Makes Sense
For Job, it was a ‘simple’ question from God that would change his life, forever. He experienced a thing or two about
- Pain
- Rejection
- Suffering
- Shame
For him, life didn’t make sense anymore, at least for a season… until his restoration (Job 14:14).
Purpose in Pain
In what season of life are you in today? Where does your current situation fit in God’s overarching purpose? Throughout your life journey, that purpose will come with some pain, discomfort and hard choices. If it doesn’t, you’re probably way off God’s will.
We learn from Job that pain is only for a season and suffering for a reason. Tweet
Earthly pain won’t last forever. But more importantly, there’s purpose in God-intended pain.
Sometimes, God allows us to experience pain to shape our character. Tweet some more
Restoration
Not all pain is evil or results from sin. Job would later realize this and he was vindicated. God restored him and his estate. Restoration, following a season of pain, comes to those
who refuse to give up, who forgive, who take a firm stand on seeing through God’s purpose for their lives, who take a step of faith even when persistence doesn’t make sense.
God restores. I pray He gives you yet another reason to believe, to hope, to persist, to linger… and to be grateful for your current season of life. Your change will come.
What key lesson(s) resonates with you when you read the story of Job? Have you ever experienced purpose in pain? You can share your story here.
About Joseph Iregbu
From a homeless, near-school-dropout to living a story worth telling. Purpose is my passion. What's your story?
Good post, Joseph. God has a plan for our pain. And ultimately, it’s
to help us turn to Him more than the world and ourselves. Good reminder!
That’s a great way to sum it up, Dave.
Great article, Joseph! I recently did some studies in Job as well. As I mentioned to you on Twitter, the main theme I see through the book is the fact that God is beyond our comprehension or understanding.
While going through it before, I put together a quick reference guide to Job. It may be useful to you and others.
http://www.beingfilled.com/2012/09/quick-reference-guide-to-job.html
Let me know what you think.
Thanks Chuck for your great insight. God is indeed beyond human comprehension.
Good post Joseph!
One thing I notice is that Job said, “what I fear has come upon me.” I believe God wanted to root that fear out of Job.
The other thing is, when I read Job, I hear the absolute best answers man has to offer. Our answers are never good enough. But what I learn from Job is This: Our deep doubt can only be answered by God’s presence. Anything less doesn’t even touch it.
I think sometimes the best thing we can do, is just sit in silence with those who are suffering. Words fail us but God is faithful. We “weep with those who weep,” and we wait on God.
Bob, your words are powerful and a revelation. So much to meditate on. I’m a firm believer of silence comfort and I leant that from Job’s experience. Thanks for being a light where you are.
Beautiful words Joseph! Thanks.
This post reminds me of Jeff Goins “Wrecked” book. Great thoughts.
We don’t expect the meaningful life to hurt as much as it does. Job’s story though teaches me that night seasons don’t last forever. Some of us give up just before sunrise. The good and bad times make us who we are – balanced, strong and worthy of use. Awesome thoughts
It’s a sobering thought you mentioned there: “giving up just before sunrise”. May we continue to persist to victory by God’s grace.
Pain and suffering leads to great joy in the morning. We have so much to be thankful for Joseph. Its hard for us to realize when going through the storm or trial that God is in control and won’t put on us more than we can take. We just have to trust in him. Job’s story is so profound that a man like that was so faithful. We question him sometimes because we lack faith. But he always provides. Great Post.
Hmm, so true Lincoln. So true. God is faithful, we need to believe. I suppose we have a lot to learn from Job’s courage. Thanks my friend.
Wonderful post today sir.
Ayo, good to see you here and thanks for reading and sharing.
Yes, purpose in pain. This has got to be the most incredible thing about God. His ability to grow us and shape us through pain and trial. He redeems it and I am so thankful for this!
It’s definitely incredible. Painful in the process but always proves needful for us. It’s amazing that we are refined in the fire, not otherwise. God bless you for your words.