Job 42:10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. (NIV)

Job was at the top of the heap, king of the hill, spiritually, financially and about every way in which someone could think.  However, though no fault of his own, he lost family, farm, and fortune.  Some of his friends still hung around, but they just blamed him for all the things that went wrong.  Job was under the rock at rock bottom.  All he had left was a prayer, and he offered that prayer up to God for his friends.

There is a whole lot of things we could discuss when we talk about Job.  However, this particular verse has always touched me.  It is significant for several reasons. The first thing first is that forgiveness is often the first step in restoration.

Job’s so-called friends were ugly to him, but Job did not attack them.  He did not post ugly things about them on Facebook nor did he call on the Lord to send fire down from heaven and zap them. He prayed for them.

That is kind of God’s formula to a happy life. “Pray for them which despitefully use you.”  “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”  “Judge not lest you be judged.”  All lessons we may have heard growing up or in Sunday school.

The King James Version of the Bible starts this verse this way: “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job…”  You see, our own outlook on life is probably the biggest thing that holds us prisoner.  Job’s situation was dire and spiraling further into darkness.  Once he could get his focus off himself and on what God wanted him to do, he began to see the light and restoration was on the way.