The Christian life is often filled with inexplicable suffering. The death of a loved one. A devastating diagnosis. Betrayal by friends. The loss of a relationship. The people of God are not immune to hardship. Our churches are filled with people in pain, even though we may not see it and they may not tell us. But it is there nonetheless. Being a Christian can, in a way, exacerbate the effects of our suffering. We know that God is sovereign over our circumstances, yet he has chosen to inflict pain on us for reasons we cannot understand. As one commentator writes, “The greatest suffering for some people is caused by their faith: the anguish that is felt when God seems to let us down.”1

Many identify with Job and his affliction. All at once, Job lost all his children, his wealth, his health – everything. And if that wasn’t enough, his “friends” told him he was getting what his sins deserved instead of comforting him. It is difficult to imagine a lower condition than this. Although most of us will never suffer in this manner, there will likely come a time when it feels like everything has been stripped from us and we are left in the dust scraping our internal wounds with pottery like Job did.

Despite his period of abasement, this was not the end of Job’s story, and so, our abasement is not our final end either. When his time of testing was completed, God, in his kindness, restored Job’s fortunes, giving him twice what he had before (Job 42:10). He had twice as many animals, 10 new children2, and lived an additional 140 years to the age of 240 (Job 42:12-16).

Now, God didn’t bless Job in this way as a repayment for what Job had suffered. God didn’t say, “Job, because you faced unfair circumstances in a way that honored me, I’m going to give you many blessings in return as a reward for a job well done.” No, God blessed Job in this way because he is a gracious and generous God, who is pleased to bless those who love him, not because he is in their debt, as God is beholden to no one3.

Even though we may be stripped of everything in this life, God does not promise restoration this side of eternity, though in his graciousness he may grant it. He does promise that we will receive glory on the Last Day. In the end, our fortunes will be restored as Job’s were, and it will all be worth it. Paul reminds his readers that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18), glory that is far beyond what Job received in his latter years.

This glory will overshadow all the blessings we received in this life and will cause all its pain to melt away into an eternal fountain of joy. Our hearts yearn to receive back what God has stripped from us or has continued to withhold from us in life, and God, in his graciousness, promises we will one day receive it and far more than we could imagine.

So, Christian, when it feels like God has stripped you of all his blessings, and you are left in the dust, scraping at the wounds of your soul, remember Job and how his story ended. Remember that after his time of testing had passed that God restored him to a state even better than before. Remember his promise that that “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10). And remember, when you are as low as you have ever been that “[God] may withdraw his favor for a season, but his love is for a lifetime”4 – a life that will stretch into eternity with him in glory.

  1. J.A. Motyer, The Message of Job (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1991), 160.
  2. Job likely had 10 new children instead 20, as the soul’s of his first 10 children continued to live, so the number of his children truly did double. John E. Hartley, The Book of Job (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, Co, 1988), 542.
  3. Ibid., 544.
  4. Ibid., 545.