Re:Verse passage – Job 42:5-17 (day six)
A local pastor friend of mine warned, “If you read it [Job] wrong, it could hurt.”
We have been in Job for 13 weeks now. If our conclusion is some weird form of prosperity Gospel, that if we just endure suffering and slug it out, God will reward us (on this side of eternity) with even greater wealth and a healthy family, then we have read it all wrong.
God is never arbitrary, he always has a reason (although we may not be able to perceive it), but his giving is never tied to our faithful achievements, but to his grace. His giving is always a gift.
The greater reward of Job’s rough and tumble faithfulness was not new stuff, but a restored relationship with God; what he had truly longed for the entire time. So here is an insightful question to ponder, after reading through Job, do you long for more stuff or more of God? Do you desire more OF God, rather than more FROM God?
See the difference?
