Oct 23 – Job!

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth.” (Job 19:25).

Today we meet a saint of God named Job. The name Job means “one who endures suffering and pain.”

Right from the very first verse of the Book of Job, we see the Lord Himself bearing glorious testimony about Job. The Bible says, “Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?’” (Job 1:8). What a wonderful testimony!

Every person must have a good testimony. Their own family should be able to bear witness about them. The church, fellow believers, pastors, and ministers should testify about them. What a blessing it is to live with such a testimony! When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be witnesses (Acts 1:8).

Satan challenged God and asked permission to test Job’s righteousness. Satan always seeks to bring trials to pull us down, wound our hearts, and separate us from the love of God. But the Lord uses times of trial to prove us upright and to lift us to greater heights of blessing.

Job endured severe trials. No one else has ever been refined in the furnace of affliction as Job was. His house collapsed, and in a single day, he lost all ten of his children. He lost all his possessions. He lost every animal he owned. Painful boils broke out all over his body.

Even his wife said, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Yet in all his trials, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1:22).

When reading Job, we often ask: Why do the righteous suffer? Why do the wicked live and prosper? The Lord’s answer is this: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

Trial after trial came upon Job. Yet he remained patient. After his season of testing, the Lord restored Job’s losses and blessed him with twice as much as he had before. The Lord turned Job’s captivity and gave him double for all he had lost.

Verse for further meditation: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12).