Job 42:11 (ESV)
Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
In the end, Job is blessed. He was given more wealth, more children and restored health. In the above passages we read about his brothers and sisters. This is the first we hear of them. In this narrative of Job we are not told about them until now. During his loss they don’t get mentioned. During his sickness they don’t get any words spoken about them. Finally they are weaved into the story at the end. We would do best not to judge them for not being around. Although the most natural question in this saga would be to ask where they might have been this entire time. What we do read, is that God has brought them now into the story. Job’s family comes to his aide in the healing process. God uses them to restore Job’s wealth.
They also brought sympathy and comfort to him. Again, we can ask, “Where was that for the first 40 chapters?” But God chose to leave them out of the story. In the end, this is part of Job’s restoration. In these final verses we are told of Job’s blessing. His family coming to bring him gifts and showing sympathy and comfort are part of that blessing. That is the takeaway God wants us to see. When God restores, He truly restores. We might go through an experience like Job’s experience. We might have one much less, or even much more trauma. But when God restores, we can see parts of our story, not mentioned or on the radar before, come into the picture. God weaves back into our lives what He wants. He keeps out of our narrative of life what He wants to keep out. It is God who controls our steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)
The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.
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