The Blessing of Finishing Well

The Blessing

By William M. Self, Sr.

Job lost all his blessings

Evil traps were set to keep him from going on in life

But he endured and remained faithful

So “The Lord blessed the latter part

of Job's life more than the first.”

The Blessing of Finishing Well

The Book of Job bookends

Job’s life with the word blessed.

In the beginning of his life…

 “God blessed the work of his hands.”

Job 1:10

The latter part of His life God blessed

him more than the first.

Job 42:12

Solomon says…

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong,

nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant

or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.

The swift, strong, wise, brilliant, and learned all face challenges

over time.  Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare,

so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

Job, like you and I, was gifted by God.

 Job used his giftings, and God

blessed the work of his hands.

Job was blind-sided by the evil times…

They fell upon him unexpectedly.

Job’s life and Solomon tells us there will

be times when a snare will be set for you.

 Something that will try to stop you

and keep you from finishing well.

It wasn’t Job’s early years of work and blessing that

increased over time to give him a great retirement.

HE LOST IT ALL!

 The Lord’s blessing in the latter part of Job’s life

came from the way he handled the evil trap of Satan.

 

Think about all the evil things Job faced.

Every one of them was a trap to

keep him from finishing well.

When evil times come on the earth, Jesus said…

“He who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Job’s life tells us that if we worked

hard for the blessing and lost it all…

Standing firm, faithfully enduring…

The Lord will bless the latter

part of our life more than the first.

Don’t let the trap, your loss, stop you.

God is able to increase your blessing in the end.

 

Scripture Reading

Job 42:12 NIV

 The Lord blessed the latter part

of Job's life more than the first.

Matthew 24:13 NIV

 …but he who stands firm

to the end will be saved.

Hebrews 12:7-8 NIV

 Endure hardship as discipline;

God is treating you as sons. For what

son is not disciplined by his father?

Hebrews 12:11 NIV

 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

 Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness

and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 NIV

11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift

or the battle to the strong,

nor does food come to the wise

or wealth to the brilliant

or favor to the learned;

but time and chance happen to them all.

12 Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,

or birds are taken in a snare,

so men are trapped by evil times

that fall unexpectedly upon them.