Weekly Devotion: How redemption helps you to persevere with hope

By: Jessika Sanders

How does redemption help us to persevere with hope in the midst of deep suffering? 

In last week’s reading Job was clinging to the hope that someone would plead his case in Heaven. This week in chapter 19 we see a shift within Job. He seems to have come to the conclusion that God won’t hide himself forever. Job shifts the posture of his heart, and in doing so, makes a bold proclamation of faith that encourages generations.

What was the revelation that helped Job (and helps us) to persevere with hope right here and right now in the midst of deep suffering?

In Job 19:25-27 God’s suffering servant proclaims, “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” 

Job’s revelation that enables him to persevere is that hope in the form of redemption isn’t hidden, and it isn’t far away. It’s living and it’s within reach!

In Job’s day and age, redeemers were very much a part of the culture. In fact, if you’ve been following along with our Bible Reading Plan, you’ll remember that not long ago we read about Boaz in the book of Ruth who served as a guardian redeemer. 

In the Old Testament, we read of how a redeemer stood up for another. He defended his cause, avenged his wrongs, and acquitted him of his charges. A redeemer served as a vindicator, a defender, a champion, and an advocate.

Job’s practical understanding of redeemers helped him to proclaim that by faith, he would see God supernaturally act on his behalf and serve as his redeemer. And when that happened, Job would receive the comfort, restoration, and vindication for which he desperately longed.

Maybe like Job, you find yourself in a season of deep suffering,

a season in which God has felt silent and far from you.

Perhaps it's a season of

infertility without explanation,

pregnancy steeped in uncertainty,

illness or hospitalization filled with hardship,

or disorientating and isolating grief.

We pray Job’s faith-filled proclamation, which is arriving in your inbox so close to Easter, is a timely and profound reminder that Christ our Redeemer does in fact live! 

Because we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23), let us not forget Christ voluntarily stepped in as our redeemer. He died on the cross paying the price of our sins in order to redeem us. For us, The Prince of Peace stood up against the Prince of Darkness. Against death, Christ acted as our vindicator, our defender, our champion, and our advocate. And thanks to Him, death and the grave have no hold on us. We will not spend our days separated from God in eternal damnation, but as Job states, “he [My Redeemer] will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.” Yes, one day, when Jesus returns and we are raised and transformed into our glorified bodies and the perfection of Eden is restored,  we will see God and we will dwell with Him all our days.

If that doesn’t give us hope with which to persevere through this broken world, what else could?

God, I thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus, who was made like me in every way so that He could greater empathize with me and the sufferings of this life. Jesus, I thank you for enduring the cross on my behalf and for being my living, breathing, Redeemer! Thank you for being a covenant-keeping God who promises to one day right all the wrongs I have endured, and to rid the world of pain and suffering once and for all. Thank you for the hope of Heaven that both awaits me and fuels me to keep pressing forward. My Redeemer Lives, hallelujah, my Redeemer lives! In your holy name I pray, Amen.

Dig Deeper into How to Navigate What is Ahead with Real Hope

Reflection Questions:

1. How does the revelation that your Redeemer lives help you to keep pressing on in suffering?

   
   

Put Your Faith Into Action:

A redeemer stands up for injustice and avenges wrongs.

This week, make a list of what you feel are the wrongs done to you (or your child) in this season of suffering. After each one, leave room to write your proclamation of faith. Save this list and refer back to it to encourage your heart that one day God will redeem this pain and suffering for His good and glory!

ex: Ezra’s struggle to regulate blood sugar → Because my Redeemer lives, Ezra  will be healed one day!

Further Reading:

1. Revelation 21

Further Reading:

1. 1 Cor 15:57

Jessika Sanders is a published writer who has been featured in Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Hope When Your Heart is Heavy devotional (2021), Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Jr. magazine (2023), and Tyndale’s So God Made a Mother (2023). She is also the co-author of The Good Book Company's, In His Hands: Prayers for Your Child or Baby in a Medical Crisis ( July 2024). Jessika is also the founder and president of Praying Through ministries.