Restored fortune? 14,000 sheep, 6000, camels, 1000 donkeys and 10 new children! All that and more! But, can 10 new children replace the 10 that that died? Was all that pain and suffering erased by the "new"? Was life ever the same for Job?
Job says, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things to wonderful for me to know... My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." Apparently God's non-answer sufficed for Job. Don't jump to the conclusion that Job was satisfied because God restored all that Job had lost. Job spoke those words prior to God doing any of that. Think about it... if Job got to that place because of what God had done, then Satan would have ultimately won his argument.
Job's battle ended the real battle. Satan and God wagered on why Job was the most righteous man on earth and what he would do if he lost everything. Job refused to give up on God and thus won the battle of the universe. Once Job won the battle God says, "Pain? I can fix that easily. More children? Camels and oxen? No problem. Job I want you happy and wealthy and full of life! But, Job, you must understand that something far more important than happiness was at stake here." There's that higher view, another dimension lingo.
What does Richard say about Job's restoration? "Good for him. Job got a personal appearance by God and that's all I'm asking for." But no God visit for Richard, nor for thousands of others. So has my faith been contingent upon a miraculous resolution? Is my loyalty to God contingent upon whether He reveals Himself in my seen world?
Stories like Job's are few in the Bible. In fact the men of faith listed in Hebrews 11 responded to God's hiddenness by going ahead and believing in spite of not seeing. Few saints encountered anything like the dramatic encounter between God and Job. Paul said this. "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary (!) troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
If all my faith is dependent upon a miracle I had best be prepared for a life of disappointment. I could have written everyday about miracles that Ann Marie and I have seen and experienced personally. Yet........... For some reason those miracles have not been enough to remove all the questions. And I doubt that recalling them would do more than the actual experience did. We treat the miraculous like the ultimate destination. Miracles are simply signs that point us toward the destination. Miraculous works have not and never will make us more faithful or trusting of God.
Miracles are appetizers that awaken a longing for something more, something more permanent.
Nothing in this life can account for Meg Woodson's grief in losing her two children. But at the end of this life, Meg's grief will vanish as she spends eternity with Peggie and Joey.
If I cannot believe that, then abandoning the Christian life, will seem like a viable option. "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."
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