Turning our Captivity

UV 504/10,000 Job 42 v 10 Turning our capitivity Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. The Lord had allowed a time of captivity for Job in order to test his faith and his endurance. Similarly, there are times of captivity in each of our lives. The captivity may be a time when our family members are going through ill health or there is a bereavement, or we are facing a financial crisis or a combination of all of these. It could be a time of mental depression and loneliness when we are even betrayed or accused wrongly or misjudged by our friends as it happened to Job. It is a time when our life and our influence is at a low ebb. When such times of captivity come, we must recognize it as a trial or test of our faith. Instead, of our faith and our resolve weakening, we must at such times increasingly depend or lean on the Lord. Job prayed for the forgiveness of his friends who had misjudged him. He did not harbour any feelings of bitterness towards them. Instead, he interceded on their behalf. This act of faith and obedience pleased the Lord and He ended His captivity, blessing him with twice as much as he had before. When we take every thought captive to Christ, we are set free from our erstwhile captivities. We experience the freedom in the spirit. Job did not hearken to the words of men but he listened to the words of God and was encouraged. His state of affliction remained even as he listened to the words of God but as he believed that word and obeyed, the Lord looked upon him with favour and restored him to an even better status than before. We need to hold on to the Word of God and pray sincerely for those who wrong us – these two actions restore the favour or the grace and power of the Lord in our lives. Prateep V Philip