When will it end? For the last several days, we have been with Job. We’ve witnessed him losing his family, his farm, all his possessions, even his health. The world has betrayed him. God, according to Job, has betrayed him. The pain and torture is unrelenting. As if his physical and mental anguish were not enough, Job’s friends also criticize him. He can’t take any more. “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,” he cries out. “Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?” Incredibly, through all of this, Job’s faith is not shaken. He knows that something more is coming, confidently claiming the promise he is given. “I know that my redeemer lives,” he says. Redemption where his fantastic hope comes from. So does ours.
We have all found ourselves in a mess we cannot get ourselves out of. Most of the time, our messes are a result of our poor choices. The resulting shame and circumstances reinforce our fear that at any moment we will be fully abandoned, by our friends and by God. Job can help us overcome that fear by reminding us that our efforts are futile. If we are to be full, we must be redeemed. We cannot just erase the past, we must be bought out of our mess. Someone must pay the price.
Today’s world pretends to have the answer, but it falls short. Positive thinking, exercise and education only go so far. We didn’t see Job trying to double his effort or modify his beliefs. He clung desperately and relentlessly to one truth, “my redeemer lives.” This is our truth too. Ephesians 1:7-10 tells us that “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” So, I, like Job, do not lose heart because my Redeemer lives!