Job 19 (That ending is the begining of a fabulous never ending)
Job the poor guy.
Here is a few things I learn reading this chapter.
1) When Rebuking someone, do not exalt yourself, be self righteous or humiliate the person.
2)There are going to be times when everything seems to be crushing you and when you call, God is silent. Furthermore, He may appears to be your enemy. Blocking your every step, snatching your hopes and making things worse for you. At that time how do you react? Do you still then trust that God has a plan for you based on what He mentioned in Romans 8:28?
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Sounds tough ah?
but it's Amazing that Job still can say this.
25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19: 25-27
What gave Job the strength to do that? To still hold on to God? Even his wife asked him to curse God and die earlier in chapter 2 I believe ut's the same thing that kept him to be blameless in God's sight. He even atones for the sins of his children when he suspected that they are sinning. Wow...
I do not know what goes through Jobs mind...but there are this verses that kept me through times whereby God appears to be against me.
Future Glory
18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Romans 8 : 18-26
And
God Disciplines His Sons
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet,"so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Finally...the verse that started it all...the verse that prepared me to take the steps of faith to run towards God through all the thorns and briars of sin.
2 Timonthy 3:12
12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Yeap...and so on. I may not suffer as much as Job but I know Jobs ending. He saw God, spoke with God, and walked closer to God. And I know by faith that my ending will be just as good.
And guess what? That ending is the begining of a fabulous never ending.