We Count Them Happy Which Endure

"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." (James 5:10-11). The prophets and leaders of old sacrificed and suffered a lot not just to secure for us the blessings and knowledge of the gospel, but also to give us examples of what living a life of faith looks like even in the midst of great hardship and adversity. We can draw strength and inspiration and hope from seeing how they faced down lions, or armies, or the deaths of their wives and children and endured anyway. In the verses I quoted, James mentions the patience of Job. When we think of Job we tend to focus on his pain and suffering, but James says we count them happy which endure, for we have seen the end of the Lord, that He is very pitiful and of tender mercy. The heartbreaking beauty of the book of Job is watching him endure in faithfulness as more sorrow and anguish is heaped upon him. But as sad as the book is, it ends with Job having heaped upon him even more than he lost, even twice as much as he lost, and as bitter and utterly sad as his suffering was, we can't help but acknowledge that in Job's case especially, but also in every case, we count them happy that endure. It may seem impossible to us now but the end of the Lord contains a happiness and a joy more complete and exquisite and sweet and intense by far than our most horrendous and soul destroying pains that we have or will ever face if we but trust in the Lord and endure.