The Joy of His Way

He is a lush plant before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden. His roots entwine the stone heap; he looks upon a house of stones. If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’ Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the soil others will spring.
Job 8:16-19
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The Joy of His Way
Bildad once again makes the case that the wicked always suffer. And we can agree with this as far as eternity is concerned.  The Bible states over and over that the wicked face judgement and pain at their death.  Yet Bildad prescribes what happens after death to what happens during life.  And as we know, the wicked far too often prosper and are treated as heroes worthy of praise.  They find joy in their wicked ways and assume it will always be so.  Yet in the end there is always a reckoning to which they will hear, “I have never seen you.”  But for the faithful who do not rejoice in their ways but in God’s, there is the promise of eternal life.  “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-3). Do not fear that God has “never seen you” but on the contrary He has called you by name, and made you His child, so that when He brings us out of this “vale of tears to Himself in heaven” we will hear these words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).