Your Latter Will Be Greater...

Job 42:7-8
"It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, 'My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and got to my servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.'"

A quick note - You'll see that God gives Job the same title four times: "My servant". What an honorable title! He had it before the suffering began (Job 1:8 - "Have you considered my servant Job?"), and he has it still.

Job 42:10
"After Job had interceded for his friends, God restored his fortune - and then doubled it!"

AFTER Job prayed for his friends, he prospered. Why? He knows part of our healing is praying for those who hurt us. Forgiveness doesn't make "it" alright, it makes YOU alright.

Isaiah 61:7 - "Because you got a double does of trouble and more than your share of contempt, your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever."
Zechariah 9:11-12 - "And you, because of my blood covenant with you, I'll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells. Come home, hope-filled prisoners! This very day I'm declaring a double bonus - everything you lost returned twice over!"

When we were finally blessed to bring a child into this world, somehow that beautiful little baby was born weighing in at a whopping 11 pounds! We were given no clue or hint that this was going to happen! In the hospital nursery, "little" Derek's bassinet was next to twins that had also been born that day, each weighing between 5 and 6 pounds. Our ONE baby weighed as much as the TWO of them put together!

You know what else is wonderful? Satan's silence. This is all very much, "In your face, Satan". With Job, as well as with us, the Adversary could only stand silent in defeat.

Job 42:11
All his brothers and sisters and friends came to his house and celebrated. They told him how sorry they were, and consoled him for all the trouble God had brought him. Each of them brought generous housewarming gifts.

Job's restoration took time, and it happened not in solitude but in the context of community. In Job's home there was something going on that nobody wanted to miss. People were ministering to each other. Job was praying for his friends and relatives, and they in turn were comforting him.

"Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" Let your heartfelt answer echo back to God, "Lord, I believe that nothing...absolutely nothing...is too difficult for You!" Speak your belief in the power of God in the face of disappointment, of challenge, and of incredulity! Look your circumstances straight in the eye, and remind them of your theology that cause you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that "Nothing is too difficult for God!"