Blessing the Latter

I want to give a disclaimer before I ever begin by saying that I am NOT comparing myself to Job!  I would never want to even come close to his absolute suffering, but at the same time I think he endured so many different things so that as believers there is at least one area we can ALL relate to Job in.  He definitely was the ultimate package when it came to suffering! 

With that perfectly clear, I will move along. Ha!  What I am pulling from today is a specific scripture from the book of Job.  Chapter 42 verse 12 is simple yet powerful.  It tells us, “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life with more than the former part.”  Job was a godly man, wealthy in property, animals, and family.  We would say today that Job had it all.  Then as we read the book of Job, which I don’t encourage on a down day, we see that everything was taken from him.  He lost his family, his wealth, even his own health.  But, we know that even at the lowest point Job would not curse our God and for his faithfulness God rewarded Job in the later part of his life.  I too, can relate to Job in several ways.

In 2006 I had it made, or so I thought.  I had married the man I loved and we had a beautiful two year old healthy daughter.  I was in the career field I had dreamed of all my life, which was teaching and did so at a school only minutes from my dream home and neighborhood.  My husband had a very successful job as an estimator for a large construction company and money was plentiful for the first time.  I drove a new car which was traded every other year and I wore very stylist clothing.  I had friends and family that I enjoyed being with and could not have been any happier.  Then one night it all changed and I lost it all slowly over the following two years. 

My 27 year old husband lay in a hospital bed and I was told his heart muscle was not functioning.  I was also told that he would not be able to ever return to work.  I became his caregiver as I continued to work full time and support a family on a teacher’s salary.  We sold one of the cars and got a very old used vehicle that we could afford.  We stopped shopping and I stopped buying new clothes.  Bills began to pill up and it seemed things could not have gotten any worse, but I didn’t know they really could.  In 2009 after selling our dream home and downsizing, our daughter was in an accident that nearly took her life and I then became her caregiver for over three months of recovery.  Soon after this problems arose in my career.  I then found myself working for a principal that did not understand my situation.  Things worsened and I was forced to resign from a 17 year career in education on October 31, 2011 after much persecution.  During this time the stress of work had also began to affect my own health and had caused me to develop severe anxiety as well as stomach issues.  I can say with confidence that my God never left my side.  Over the past seven years I have become solely dependent on my Savior and creator!  I have learned that He alone is my caregiver and that He will never leave nor forsake me.  I did have doubts and terrible fears but when I called to Him they were taken away.  He always found ways for me to escape and make it through.

 

We see that Job was blessed in his later years which always gave me home.  God also gave Job much greater than he had in the beginning.  I can tell you today that God is doing just that for me.  My husband’s heart function has increased from 5% to over 35%, which we are told is medically impossible.  My daughter was healed completely from her accident.  God took care of all our medical bills and we don’t owe one penny! When it comes to my career, well let’s just say that God gives you back even greater for instead of being a public school librarian as I once was; I am presently a research librarian for Liberty University, the largest and fastest growing Christian university in the world. Then a ministry in January 2011 for the spiritual encouragement of caregivers around the world, which would have never happened unless I had become a caregiver!  God is doing what His Word says He will do.  I am just excited about what is to come. 

Are you?  Do you believe that what is happening to you today is not forever?  Do you believe that your best days are ahead?  Do you believe that God can use anyone at any age to do outstanding things for His kingdom?  He can and He will if you only believe.