And They All Lived Happily Ever After

And They All Lived Happily Ever After
Job 42:1- 17

I have often asked people whether they like the ending of the book of Job. The majority do not because it seems unrealistic, in that they know many people who do not have a happy ending to their story in the way that Job does. My own reaction works the logic in the opposite direction. My first wife came to be disabled by multiple sclerosis and died as a result of the illness, and I don’t care to think of her story as simply ending in that way. I am glad that I know that her whole person will be renewed on resurrection day, and I am glad that the story of Job ends with Job restored. The very fact that so many people do not have a happy ending to their story is the reason why a story that has a happy ending is important—not because we are avoiding the toughness of the unhappy ending and fooling ourselves but because God is indeed one who brings stories to a happy ending. The Israelites did not know that their family members who died without a happy ending were going to get one on resurrection day, which makes the story’s statement of faith in the God of happy endings even more remarkable...