Page 156 - Reading Job to Know God

becomes the channel of blessing for others. He becomes a mediator; he
becomes a priest. He becomes the one who intercedes for his friends. And
how did that all come about? Through his suffering. You see, suffering
not only means enlarged blessing for Job, but it also means enlarged
blessing through the sufferer for others. Job 19:13 – 21,

“He has removed my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are
completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed, and my
intimate friends have forgotten me. Those who live in my house and
my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight. I
call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him
with my mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am
loathsome to my own brothers.”

“Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against
me. All my associates abhor me, and those I love have turned against
me, my bone clings to my skin and my flesh, and I have escaped only
by the skin of my teeth. Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, for the
hand of God has struck me.”
Now listen to 42:11,

“Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him
before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and
they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the
LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of
money, and each a ring of gold.”

Where were they when he needed them? In Job 19: “Everyone has turned
against me, my whole family”. You would expect Job to be bitter,
wouldn’t you? You would expect Job to carry a little chip on his shoulder,
a vendetta. You would think he would have animosity in his heart and
vindictiveness in his spirit. But he saw God. And seeing God, he is not
angry with his friends. He bows down and he prays for them. He says,
“They were wrong, but I was wrong too. If they could see the Lord as He
has shown Himself to me”. Not by hearsay, but by revelation. So he
begins to pray for his friends. And then he is in his house and he does not
close the door to his family. They come around again after it is all over.
They kicked him when he was down, but now he is up, and rather than
having a chip on his shoulder, he says, come on in, sit down and let’s have
some food together. Oh, I think it is marvelous. God not only blesses the
sufferer, but blessing goes through the sufferer. He becomes a mediator
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