Scripture
Then Job replied to the LORD :
“I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-6
Observation
Job was a scab-picker and he had a bone to pick with God. He was gutsy. Job believed not only that he would be able to speak to God face to face, but also that God would explain himself to a man on his sick bed.
What did Job get for asking too much of God?
Job did get his appointment with God, but it wasn’t what he imagined. Instead of him asking God questions, the Lord questioned Job.
Like the rest of us, Job blamed God to make himself feel better. What drives that demand is the notion that there is some standard even higher than God himself that somehow the Almighty must answer to. And of course, we imagine that us humans have the right to take God to the complaint desk.
What Job got for asking too much of God was a graduate course in the sovereignty of God. The Lord is in control and he doesn’t have to answer to anyone. The Lord has plans greater than our imagination and he does not have to explain himself. Yet what motivates his silence is love.
Application
What are we supposed to do when God doesn’t explain himself to us? We certainly can’t become fatalistic, that whatever will be will be. No, we don’t resign ourselves to fate, we have a Father. The best response to God’s silence is silence of our own. Instead of trying to stop God dismantling what we treasure, we ought instead to ponder his ways and give him time. He does not explain himself, but love is at work. Our Father does make all things beautiful in their time.
Prayer
Father, I’m done trying to figure you out. If I want you to be bigger than my problems then I must let you be out of my control. You don’t have to explain anything to me. I will just follow and be amazed at what can happen when you do as you would like. Amen.
