Devotional for Today

JOB 42

And the Lord restoreod Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10.

I think I know how happy Job was when the trial was all over and God gave him seven more sons and three more daughters and twice as much livestock as he had before. Yes, I think I know a little bit, because I can still remember how I felt when I found my family again after we men escaped from the war in Burma. That one letter telling how they were covered with a cloud of fog for four days, and telling of their safe arrival in Calcutta, was the last word we received for six weeks. Those six weeks were the darkest, most discouraging, and loneliest six weeks through which I have ever lived. The tempo of the war increased. The city of Rangoon was taken, and the enemy moved northward. We men had to walk across the border mountains into India, but when we got to Calcutta Mr. Wyman, Mr. Baird, and I learned that our wives and children were waiting for us in the hill station of Mussoorie. We couldn’t send them a telegram, for the government had taken over all telegraph lines, so we got on the train and journeyed toward them without their knowing that we were alive and had escaped into India.
As we neared the house where our families were staying, we heard the children playing in the yard. Then we heard a great shout. I knew what it was. They had seen Mr. Wyman coming through the gate. Then there was another shout. That was when Mr. Baird came through the gate. The mothers, hearing the shouting, came running out to see what it was all about. By this time I had come through the gate, and there was more shouting! Oh, glad day! I can never forget it. There we all were, the Wymans, the Bairds, and the Hares, with our arms around our loved ones, all laughing and crying with joy! At last I shouted into my wife’s ear. “Dear, we’ve lost everything—our furniture, our books, our dishes. All I could bring out was this one suitcase.”
And she shouted back, “Oh, no. We haven’t lost everything. Here’s Peter. Here’s Verna May, and now that we have you, nothing else matters.”
I think that was the way Job felt after his trial was over.
Keep close to God always. He will comfort you when trials come. He is the only one who can restore your happiness.

---

From the Devotional: Skyscrapers: 365 Stories That Build You Up

Eric B. Hare, legendary storyteller and missionary, crammed this devotional full of stories that will help you get to know Jesus—and have a happier life. You’ll get to read through the best story of all (just a little at a time), and you’ll even discover what Nehemiah, Christopher Columbus, and some Brazilian fishermen had in common (honest, it’s in here!).

More Information