The Lord Is Full of Compassion and Is Merciful to Us (James 5:11) - Shown Through Job's Life

James 5:11 says, “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

If someone said, “Show me an example in Scripture of God being compassionate and merciful” you wouldn’t take them to Job, but James 5:11 says that even with Job, God was still "very compassionate and merciful." Trials, especially those Job experienced, make God look like He’s not compassionate and merciful. We tend to think if God was compassionate and merciful He wouldn’t let people experience trials. If we can read about the man who suffered the worst trials in history and it can still say these words, that tells us something about God that we need to keep in mind: even in the worst trials “the Lord is [still] very compassionate and merciful.”

The Coronavirus has caused some people to doubt God’s compassion and mercy. The sermon examines God’s compassion and mercy to Job when he suffered and to us when we suffer in light of the recent events.

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Lessons for The Lord Is Full of Compassion and Is Merciful to Us

Lesson 1: Perseverance doesn’t ________ ____________________ (James 5:11; Job 9:23, 21:4, 9, 17, 24:12, 31:35-32:1 cf. Luke 18:9).

Lesson 2: Even in the __________ ____________ “the Lord is still very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

Lesson 3: God was compassionate and merciful in that He:

• (Part I) _____________________ ________ Satan could do (Job 1:9, 12, 2:6).

• (Part II) Didn’t ____________ ______.

• (Part III) ______________ ______ when the trials were over (Job 42:10-12; Jam 1:12).

Family Worship Guide for The Lord Is Full of Compassion and Is Merciful to Us
Memory Verses: James 5:11

Day 1: Jam 5:11, Job 13:15, Jam 1:2 and discuss: How can trials negatively affect our attitude toward God? What is God’s design for testing in our lives? Does perseverance mean that we need to be perfect in trials? To what degree did Job trust God? How much of our lives should we be trusting God with?

Day 2: Job 31:35-38, Job 40:3-4, and discuss: Why is it easy to justify ourselves to others and to God when we are going through trials? What standard do we typically look to for fairness when we are being severely tested, God’s or our own? How was Job’s perseverance manifested when he did not act perfect? How should this be an encouragement to us when we are tried?

Day 3: Job 1:9-12, Job 42:12, Jam 1:12, and discuss: How was God’s compassion shown in Job’s trials? In what ways can we have hope in God’s compassion toward us in our trials? In what ways was Job blessed more by God in the latter days of his life? What does God promise us for enduring trials?