FROM BLEAK TO BEAUTIFUL

FROM BLEAK TO BEAUTIFUL

READ:
Job 42:10-17

The LORD blessed the latter
days of Job more than his
beginning.  -Job 42:12

Spring is the time of year when God reminds us that things are not always as they seem.  Over the course of a few short weeks, what appears hopelessly dead comes to life.  Bleak woodlands are transformed into colorful landscapes.  Trees whose naked arms reached to heaven all winter, as if pleading to be clothed, suddenly are adorned with lacy green gowns.  Flowers that faded and fell to the ground in surrender to the cold rise slowly from the earth in defiance of death.

In Scripture, we read about some apparently hopeless situations.  One example is that of a wealthy man named Job whom God described as having integrity (Job 2:3).  Disaster struck and Job lost everything important to him.  In misery, he said, "My days are...spent without hope" (7:6).  What appeared to Job and his friends as evidence that God had turned against him was just the opposite.  God was so confident of Job's integrity that He trusted him in this battle with Satan.  Later, Job's hope and life were renewed.

The faithful arrival of spring every year comforts me when I'm in a situation that seems hopeless.  With God, there is no such thing.  No matter how bleak the landscape of life may look, God can transform it into a glorious garden of color and fragrance. - Julie Ackerman Link

Dear God, we pray for faith anew,
For greater trust in all we do,
For hope that never knows defeat,
For victory at Thy mercy seat. - Brandt
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With God, there is hope even
in the most hopeless situation.

INSIGHT
Today's reading shows how God graciously provided for Job after his many tragic losses.  "And the LORD restored Job's losses....Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before" (v.10).  We might wonder:  How could we ever replace a child who had died?  Or How do we overcome our insecurity that additional blessings could also be removed?  The answer is in relying on the sovereign God who both gives and takes away (Job 1:21).

Have a blessed day.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace