When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! – Job 42:10

As a child, my understanding of the story of Job was pretty simplistic: Job suffered and God restored his wealth and children. End of story.

But on a closer read, I learned that God’s plan for Job was much more complex and purposeful.

God’s plan for Job all along seemed to be to deepen his character and understanding, and expand his capacity for love and compassion.

Job’s friends poured salt on Job’s wounds the entire time he was going through his ordeal – spouting untruths and accusing Job of sin.

But when Job had a true encounter with God and was told to pray for his friends, he didn’t hesitate to go to the altar for them.

And it makes me wonder: Would God have blessed Job if he’d refused to pray for his friends?

What if Job had responded “Are you crazy, God? Pray for these fools? They made my life 1000 times worse than it already was!” Would God have given him everything back?

It makes me think of Jesus’ call for us to love even those who persecute us:

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain of the just and unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?” – Matthew 5: 43-46

Job praying for his “frienemies” was the sign that he was a true child of God. He displayed his spiritual wealth to God, so God gave him twice as much material wealth as he had before.

What we can learn from Job’s story is that God never wants to hurt us. His ultimate goal for us is to cultivate our hearts to be more like His.

Take time today to pray for those who’ve made your life difficult or who have wished you harm. Ask God to expand your capacity for love so that you can be blessed like Job.

Be blessed,

Alexia