Devotional
The End Matters
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).
Aug 24, 2024By Paulson Pulikottil
Interpreters disagree on the exact meaning of Job’s words quoted above. However, the following sentences show that Job was expressing his deep faith in the God whom he trusts: “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:26—27).
Instead of surgical scrutiny, we must focus on the essence of Job’s faith. Job asserts that his suffering has an end and marks a new beginning. Though he must scrape his rotten body with a potsherd now (Job 2:7—8), he believes that he will behold his redeemer with his own eyes once his decayed skin falls off.
Job expresses his robust faith in cumulative sentences: “I shall see God,” “I shall see for myself,” and “my eyes shall behold, and not another.” This hope is so exciting and overwhelming that he eagerly awaits that moment, so his heart “faints” with excitement (compare Psa 84:1).
The essence of Job’s faith is that suffering is not an end. His faith looks up to a higher One who waits for him at the finishing line. He is sure that the suffering of the present will not consume him but will give way to a brighter future with God.
Job’s faith is not shaken by the present suffering because, for him, a firm believer in the living God, the end matters, and that end is seeing God, his redeemer, with his own eyes. The suffering of the present is only a dress rehearsal for that meeting.
Like Job, fix your eyes not on your present trials, but on the Redeemer who waits for you at the finish line. Let your faith rise above suffering, knowing that one day, you too will behold God with your own eyes. Live today in the light of that promise.