The back of the book

I've been reading the book of Job in the Old Testament.
I've read it many times before.
Each time I read it,
I'm more acquainted with sorrow
than I was the last time I read it,
and I feel even more compassion for Job.

I don't think God was exactly fair to Him
but then, fairness is a weak
imitation of justice,
and who wants fairness when you can have justice.

I also want to smack his 'friends'
and tell them to shut up.

So, as I was reading the other day,
I felt so bad for him,
that I skipped back and read the last
chapter, just to make sure
that everything was going to turn out all right.

If only he'd known in the midst of his suffering,
that everything was going to be more than
just all right in the end.

Wouldn't it be nice
if in our book of life
we could skip back to the last
few pages,
and see for sure that everything
was going to be all right...

...That God indeed, would work all things out for good.
...That God indeed, would bring beauty out of our ashes.
...That God indeed, would restore to us what the enemy had taken.
...That God indeed would wipe all tears from our eyes,
and seat us at His table,
right next to Him.

I guess that faith is believing
that if I could read that final page
that I would see that everything
will turn out all right in the end.

The author of God's book
Is the author of my book.
He likes similar endings.
He has signed the title page.
It is filled with His many names
written with blood red ink.
It's authentic.
It is real.

So dear Job,
may I join my voice with your declaration?

"I know that my Redeemer lives,
AND IN THE END,
when my flesh is completely destroyed,
I will see Him face to face."

I can't imagine a better ending.