“As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work: So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.” (Job 7: 2, 3)

Many of us know the story of Job, the man who had been targeted by Satan as a pawn in a contest between him and God. And now, by chapter 7 of this great book of detailed suffering, Job has seen his children killed, his animal wealth vanish, and his non-supportive wife encourage him to curse God and die. And none of this seems balanced by any good news. He begins to see himself as a field laborer, looking earnestly for some kind of shade to escape the ever-present sun and heat. He desires the shadows and hopes to see some reward for his apparently conscientious work for the Lord, but time passes--months, he tells us--and we don’t know how long he is in this tormented state of depression. Sleep eludes him. Rather, his nights are wearisome, no doubt worried about how he is to survive. He feels he is too old to start over, but he’s not "rocking chair retired" material yet. What is God up to? His faith remains strong in the Lord, for he promises that if God slays him, he will still trust in Him.

And we know the blessed ending of the book. Job gets back twice as much wealth and as many children as he had before the calamities hit. God had not forgotten him. Now sleep would return to him, and there would be shade aplenty. 

It's true: all God’s stories have happy endings. 

But saints of the ages have suffered confusion, loss, and perplexity and have undergone chaotic conditions during our slow but progressive journey to Heaven’s shores. Like Pilgrim, we are bound for the Celestial City, but there are many delays and disappointments creating disaster and disillusionment, and some even resulting in death. We are told the Lord is with us every step of the way, but the snares still arise, the bills won’t stop coming, and thousands of trials seem to happily await us around each bend. But we, like Job, have a promise of sweet sleep and plenty of shade. In the midst of worries and woes, we must pause and reflect and we must not lose faith nor seek to un-enlist from the jobs He has given us. 

There is coming a day of singing and rejoicing around the throne and we’re told that sorrow and sighing shall flee away. May this certainty keep us on the path to the Celestial City and, like Pilgrim experienced, may the Lord cause our burdens to fall from our shoulders when we come to the cross, and come we must. Our poor shoulders cannot wrestle the prince of darkness alone. His days are numbered, as are our stewardship days.

There remains a rest for God’s people.  But until then we must stay busy telling others of his salvation.

He will see us safely home.