My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.  

James 5:10-11 

What does God intend as the end of our suffering? If we hear Job, the quintessential suffering saint, it is that we know God better than we ever have before. Hence, Job’s last recorded words are, ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ James corroborates this in our text. God wants us to know Him. To know Him, and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent is what constitutes eternal life, according to Christ in His High Priestly prayer. Thus affliction has purpose and value. This is extremely hard for us to appreciate when we are enduring it. Job certainly had his moments of deep crisis. He questioned God in numerous instances. For all his agonizing experiences, he retained his faith. In speaking to Job’s friends God exonerates Job by saying, ‘My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has.’ Job knows more of God as Christ reveals Him and becomes the model for all who wonder what is the purpose of affliction. Because Christ is the revealer of God, He is the One Whom we magnify. 

Our Holy and Wise God, 
we rejoice that You know the end from the beginning. 
We praise You that You order and arrange all things, 
to accomplish Your purpose for us. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. 

James 5:11 

Job endured deep, sustained, painful afflictions. He continued to trust God in spite of all God allowed him to suffer. God’s overall purpose was that he might experience Him more deeply. This did come to be in due course of time. Job testified, ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.’ Thus, Job became the archetypal enduring saint. At the end, we realize that Christ was integrally involved in Job’s spiritual progress. Just as He had spoken to Moses from the burning bush, so He spoke to Job from the whirlwind. The results of this sight of Christ and this advancement of his experience of God was he could testify that he knew more of God than ever before. Thus God had shown Himself to be, as our text puts it, ‘compassionate and merciful.’ All God permits us to endure as those who have faith in Him serves the overall purpose to draw us closer to Him and to know Him more fully. In this He proves Himself to be compassionate and merciful. He sets Christ before us while we are enduring affliction so we will come to the deeper knowledge of God which is what He intends. What He did for Job, we believe He will do for us.  

Our Merciful and Compassionate God, 
we rejoice in how You manifest Yourself to us. 
We praise You that as You do,  
You draw us out after Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.  

James 5:10-11 

What does God intend as the end of our suffering? If we hear Job, the quintessential suffering saint, it is that we know God better than we ever have before. Hence, Job’s last recorded words are, ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ James corroborates this in our text. God wants us to know Him. To know Him, and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent is what constitutes eternal life, according to Christ in His High Priestly prayer. Thus affliction has purpose and value. This is extremely hard for us to appreciate when we are enduring it. Job certainly had his moments of deep crisis. He questioned God in numerous instances. For all his agonizing experiences, he retained his faith. In speaking to Job’s friends God exonerates Job by saying, ‘My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has.’ Job knows more of God as Christ reveals Him and becomes the model for all who wonder what is the purpose of affliction. Because Christ is the revealer of God, He is the One Whom we magnify. 

Our Holy and Wise God, 
we rejoice that You know the end from the beginning. 
We praise You that You order and arrange all things, 
to accomplish Your purpose for us. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. 

James 5:11 

Job endured deep, sustained, painful afflictions. He continued to trust God in spite of all God allowed him to suffer. God’s overall purpose was that he might experience Him more deeply. This did come to be in due course of time. Job testified, ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.’ Thus, Job became the archetypal enduring saint. At the end, we realize that Christ was integrally involved in Job’s spiritual progress. Just as He had spoken to Moses from the burning bush, so He spoke to Job from the whirlwind. The results of this sight of Christ and this advancement of his experience of God was he could testify that he knew more of God than ever before. Thus God had shown Himself to be, as our text puts it, ‘compassionate and merciful.’ All God permits us to endure as those who have faith in Him serves the overall purpose to draw us closer to Him and to know Him more fully. In this He proves Himself to be compassionate and merciful. He sets Christ before us while we are enduring affliction so we will come to the deeper knowledge of God which is what He intends. What He did for Job, we believe He will do for us.  

Our Merciful and Compassionate God, 
we rejoice in how You manifest Yourself to us. 
We praise You that as You do,  
You draw us out after Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning