John Hendrickson
"For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease."
Poor, poor Job. A mere mortal: born of woman, few of days, and full of trouble. He's pleading his case with God. Can't I at least have some hope that death is not the end, of me? Many tree species will sprout or coppice from dormant buds in the stem when the top is killed back or removed at harvest. He proposes that a tree has more hope than he does, because a tree can grow again. He later gets right to the point and asks: If mortals die, will they live again? Ver. 14. Job does express some hope in his appeal, but it's a vague and tentative arrangement, no assurance.
Christians, in contrast, have a promise. More than that, we have a witness. Jesus provided the resurrection for which Job longed. Just before He raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die" John 11:25-26. His answer culminated in the empty tomb, when He was raised from the dead and became the first evidence of our resurrection. Therefore, the reason that we can hope in suffering is because our suffering is not the end of the story - our resurrection is.
Prayer: Lord, although we admit that we may be confused about Your purposes in suffering, we do know that You have conquered death and offered us eternal life in Christ. As we suffer, call to our minds the resurrection, where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain because the old order of things will have passed away. Amen.
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