Job is in a state of despair. His life has been almost totally wrecked. Everything he had; his wealth, his health, his children, had been snatched away. All he had left was a sarcastic grumbling wife and three friends whose ‘comfort’ was questionable and served only to make him feel worse! Painful boils covered his entire body. He felt as though his life was at an end and he compares the hope a tree has to sprout again, with his own desperate situation. Reading on in the chapter we get the impression that Job puts more hope in the life of a tree being restored than his own. However, his story finishes on a positive note, and his life, like the cut-down tree, “sprouted again”. Chapter 42:12 records: “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…”.
In our walk as disciples of Jesus Christ, we will face storms, and as Peter puts it, be “grieved by various trials”. 1 Peter 1:6. We may at times feel dry and discouraged, but “Waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert, the parched land shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water” Isaiah 35:7. Praise God that in Christ we have his promise and assurance for now and for the future. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you”. Isaiah 43:2.
Let’s praise our Heavenly Father for the ‘scent of water’. Let’s lift our heads, our hands, and our hearts and look to God for “showers of blessing” that will refresh our vision, revive our spirits and result in new growth.
Be blessed as we grow together, for we shall be “..like a tree planted by the rivers of water. That brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf also shall not wither” Psalm 1:3
Eddie.