Job 42:16-17
After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.  So Job died, being old and full of days.

In the end, this traumatic and painful experience was just a season in Job’s life.  He came out the other side.  He lived on for many years.  He had  been fruitful and blessed before it happened, and he was blessed and fruitful afterwards.  He learned some things from this experience, but it was not something that lasted the rest of his life.  He could put this experience behind him and move forward by God’s grace.

There is always an “after this.”  We eventually come out the other side of what we are going through.  God had an “after this” planned for Job all along, an abundant and full life to live after all he’d endured.  And the same is true for us.  Maybe it’s that after our experience we learned something or were blessed in some way or gained something.  Maybe it’s that after this, we become more fruitful, we are healed, we live a long life, we become something more than we were before.

But maybe sometimes our “after this” doesn’t come in this life.  Job’s tragedy was just a small portion of his overall life, just like our struggles here on earth are temporary compared to the eternal lives we will enjoy that God has prepared for us.  In eternity, all our pain really will be over.  All our struggles will end.  And we will enjoy the abundant blessings that God will give to us, more than we can hope for or imagine.

In the midst of hardships, it can seem like there is no end in sight.  But Job proves that we can make it through painful seasons with our faith intact.  We can stay faithful to God for the duration of whatever challenges come our way.  God blessing Job at the end of his ordeal is a demonstration of His grace and care for His fire-tried servant.  And God will demonstrate His grace toward us in many different ways as we endure the trials of life.  So let us move forward through them by His grace, knowing we have hope in Him and something more to come after they are over.