Not to Be Served

Job 42:10-17, NIRV [1]

¹⁰After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him successful again. He gave him twice as much as he had before. ¹¹All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came to see him. They ate with him in his house. They showed their concern for him. They comforted him because of all the troubles the Lord had brought on him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

¹²The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than the first part. He gave Job 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels. He gave him 1,000 pairs of oxen and 1,000 donkeys. ¹³Job also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴He named the first daughter Jemimah. He named the second Keziah. And he named the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵Job’s daughters were more beautiful than any other women in the whole land. Their father gave them a share of property along with their brothers.

¹⁶After all of that happened, Job lived for 140 years. He saw his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. ¹⁷And so Job died. He had lived for a very long time.

Visual Aids:

• “Job”
• Plate with all the previous animals
• More plastic animals
• Bible.

Message:

Over the past few weeks, we have learned a lot about a man named Job. (Bring “Job” back out.) I wonder what you have learned about Job. (Allow children to review/respond.) That’s right. We have learned that Job was very blessed by God because he was faithful. But then he was tested; and all his possessions, his thousands of animals, his family, his physical health, and his friends all were gone. (Remind children of the plate with all the animals and the “sores” on Job’s body. “Job” should still have sores on his body.) Job suffered for a long time. Job pleaded with God to answer. It seemed such a long time that Job thought God would never answer him. Job wondered if God was even listening to him. But what do you think Job did after all that time of suffering and pleading? (Allow children to answer.) Would you believe that he prayed for his friends? And God heard him! Then God gave back to Job even more than he had before! All his brothers and sisters, and anyone who knew him before came to his house and comforted him. God blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than the first part. (Give “Job” back his plate of animals, but pile even more on to it. Maybe even let it overflow.) At the end of Job’s life, he had thousands of animals - including sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys – plus seven sons and three daughters. And he lived another 140 years! Job learned so much about himself, about God, and about others during those years. Even though Job had many troubles, he learned how huge and powerful God is. He learned how to trust God more. He learned how to love others, even when they are not kind or helpful. We trust that God is with us even when we do not realize it or see it. There might be times when we are tempted by God’s enemy to think that God isn’t listening to us, as Job did. Yet, part of trusting means we won’t always see, but we can have a deeper confidence that God is truly with us and for us and that God loves us! That’s what having faith means!

God made a promise that God will help each of us in hard times too. God promises that if we put our hope and our trust in God, just like Job, God will help us. Let’s pray together.

Prayer:

Ever-loving and ever-trusting God, thank you for always being there for us, even when things are hard. Help us to be more like Job when we go through difficult times in life. Help us to always be faithful to you and to trust you. Amen.

[1] New International Reader's Version (NIRV) Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.