Title: Suffering Ends with Blessings (Job 42:15)
Contents Oral medicine sold at pharmacies includes ‘Shake Well Before Using; Shake well before use'. I wonder if this is the meaning of suffering that Christians go through. It means that the Lord shakes us well before using us in a blessed place. So we should be grateful for our suffering.
Job, who appears in today's text, was the man who was greatly shaken by God. The suffering he suffered was 1) the most regrettable thing for human beings, namely, the loss of his hard-earned fortune in one day, 2) the most tragic thing, the pain of losing his beloved child at once in an hour and in one place 3) the most painful physical pain. It reached its climax due to illness, and 4) the saddest end was the suffering of loneliness, when a loved one left and even friends turned away. What greater suffering can be found than this?
Nevertheless, Job overcame that hardship and finally received blessings and enjoyed it. As the Bible records, the Lord blessed Job's mother's year with more blessings than the first.(42:12) What's the secret?
First, it was because he believed and relied on God's omnipotence and goodness even in the midst of suffering (42:2).
Second, it was because they realized that all things were not done by their own thoughts and strength, but only by the will of God and asked for God's help (42:3,4).
Third, it is because we have grown from the faith we hear and know with our ears to the faith we believe and act (42:5).
Beloved saints of Bethel! Is your life shaken by hardships now? Thank you! Because God has begun preparing to finally bless you. Overcome hardships with faith! Because blessings come to those who win. When we acknowledge God's goodness, seek His wisdom and strength, and give up our ideological beliefs and gain empirical faith, our sufferings will be eternal with blessings.