“All my inward (closet) friends abhorred me: and them whom I loved are turned against me.

My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

Have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!

That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter (last) day upon the earth:

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, YET in my flesh shall I see God. 

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.“ Job: 19:19-27

Some may be familiar with the story of Job, it is absolutely heart breaking and few can read Job without tears, his pain and torment reaching through the pages and reaching through time and straight into believers’ hearts.

To break it down, at this point in our passage, Job had gone from a wonderful, prosperous, happy life to losing absolutely everything.

His cattle, every single one of his children in one fell swoop, his health, literally everything.

His tragedies hitting so fast and so hard and so simultaneously that the Bible tells us that while one messenger was yet speaking, in the process of giving him horrible news, another message arrived with more terrible news.

He was at his lowest, everything destroyed, ten children dead, his body covered with festering boils, also tormented by terrible nightmares, so that sleep offered no escape.

His wife so distraught that she told him to curse God so that he could end the suffering. She was not wicked; she was speaking out of her traumatization.

When you would need a friend most in life, Job was visited by three and instead of encouraging him and praying with him, what did they do? They accused him, constantly berating him, telling him that surely, he had to have done something against God to cause all of this.

So, let’s go back to the words of Job.

Everything he was suffering and those he loved turning on him with words and a pack mentality that proved what kind of friends they really were.

He even asked for their mercy as his mind, and health were almost gone, and his soul under an absolute satanic attack from Satan himself and yet they offered none.

Job suffered all these things not because he was wicked but because he was righteous. Satan wanted to “prove” to God that if he took his protection away from Job that Job would curse him. 

The only weapon that Satan could not use against Job was death. everything else was fair game.

We then see our passage take a shift as Job confessed yet again to his friends what he had confessed the entire time, he knew that in the last days God would rule earth and that even death and decay would not prevent him from witnessing that event and that he would receive life back into his dead body and live forever with the Lord on earth.

Now remember, Job was before Jesus came to earth. Thís was divine knowledge and the entire account given to us that we could have hope, what Job experienced was not normal it was a supernatural attack.

Once it was over and Job did not lose is faith in the goodness of God, he was blessed beyond measure in every area of his life, the Bible says that the end of his life was even better than what his life had been before the attack.

You may be wondering what became of those “friends” of his, they had to admit they were wrong, apologize and God even required them to gift Job.

You know one of the aspects of this that I love is that Job in his pain cried out that only if his words could be written… well as we know, they were and they are in the greatest book ever written!

His pain was not in vain and nothing we ever go through in life is in vain.

God uses it all, he does not send suffering, it is part of being on this earth, which is not our home, but he uses everything that we go through so that we one day will be a light and witness to another, helping them on their journey.

Just as the words of Job, which are believed to have been written almost two thousand years before Christ, are such a comfort to us today. 

Love & Peace to you today from my heart to yours! Sister Nina

NBJ2024 REVISITED 07/20/2024