The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Job 42:10-13, “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold. 11 Then all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all who had known him before, came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12 And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, and he had 14,000 sheep, and 6,000 camels, and 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 And he had seven sons and three daughters.”

Have you ever been in trouble? I mean, “real trouble!” The determination of the true meaning of “trouble” depends on a factor of things. If you read the earlier portion of the passage above, you will quickly learn what “real trouble” is!

Job had a good habit of having dinner with his children. Yet, one day as they were gathered for dinner, trouble roared down upon all of them, and they died. Only Job was spared. Yet, in time (as we see in the Scripture above), the LORD restored everything that Job had lost. Furthermore, the LORD doubled everything so that Job was materially better off than before his first loss.

Sometimes we lose things – even friends — and we weary ourselves with the loss because we were the cause of it. Yet, the LORD is capable of restoring friends as easily as with all other losses. Of course, it’s better not to have encountered losses in the first place. Yet, in the long run, losses are not losses when the LORD intervenes.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Heartily yours in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have” – Corrie ten Boom