So what about Job? Long O – oh – Job, not ah, jahb, like where you work!

So what new thing have I learned about Job recently?  Is there anything good to come from Job?

So many Christians only know of Job as that “poor man who lost everything”. And while it may be true that he did, he also received double what he lost at the end of the story. People forget to tell that part.

The worst thing is that most people have no idea Job opened the door to all his own troubles.

How? Easy, his mouth and his actions based on fear. He was continually offering up sacrifices to God just “in case” his children were in sin. He was afraid they were on the wrong side of God. He had no proof of this as much as he feared they were.

He was afraid – and not a light fear. No, Job’s fear was deep-seated:

Job_3:25  For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

But wait! Go back to earlier and you find that Job not only feared greatly but he also cursed his day!

In Job 2 – Satan struck Job with sores, boils, from the sole of his foot unto his crown of his head. Because of that, we have Job 3:1 – Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.

Now come on! We all know that if you curse your own day, you are opening the door to all sorts of evil! But this is not all Job did. Nope – he also sat around with his so-called friends and whined about God.

BUT! None of these things are what I want to share with you today. Today I want to share something I just learned that I think is pretty awesome.

If you know me at all, you know one of the things I teach most about is about the words of your mouth. I also believe you take God literally at His word. If He said it, we should just believe it. Not try to figure it out, not try to reason about it, but just take it literally.

So I learned about this part of Job, right before God chastised him and then restored him. Because Job’s friends were not giving him good council, God sent along Elihu to speak to Job. Elihu was very angry with Job’s friends and with Job himself.

Elihu began chastising Job and telling him he is wrong about God. Job whined that God wasn’t listening to him, that God had turned away from him. Elihu stated that God speaks and that if a man was even on his death bed full of sickness and disease God would hear and:

[Then the man’s] flesh shall be restored; it becomes fresher and more tender than a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth. Job 33:25  (AMP)

Then that person’s body will become young and strong again. He will be as he was when he was young. (ERV)  

Then their flesh will become softer than a child’s. They will go back to the days of their youth. (GW) 

Then his flesh becomes young again, and he comes back to the days of his early strength; (BBE) 

No matter which translation I looked at, they all said the same thing. Here is a man in a bed of suffering. He can’t stand the sight of food, has no appetite for even his favorite meats. He has lost weight, his skin is hanging off his bones, and he is wasting away to nothing. His bones are sticking out. He is on the edge of death.

You get the idea. This guy looks awful! But here is God. God who heals us. God who restores us. God who takes care of us.

What am I so excited about? If we are taking the Bible literally, then God has promised that He will restore us to our youth and energy (and this isn’t the only place He promised this). He will take skin that is stressed and make it new, like a baby’s – fresher, restored like a child’s. He will also restore strength and vigor.

When God says He restores, He RESTORES. All you have to do is believe.

If you have areas in your life that need restoration, believe God for the best, for everything to be made new again. It doesn’t matter what area needs help – health, finances, relationships – God has promised to restore you, better than you were.

You have His Word on it!

Sharing the goodness of God