Job is a wonderful book that many refer to when suffering unjustly. But what about this book and the man Job? It's easy to say we think of Job but do we really realize how he went about things? Do we go about suffering the same way? How many times do we say, "'Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips." (Job 2:10)
When Job was put on the spot by Elihu, God stepped to the front and answered Job. What a frightening experience it must have been for God to answer Job from a whirlwind and then a storm. How did God sound? I don't know. But this we do know, God exposed Job's ignorance about this world by asking questions that Job had no clue about. Even more, God did not explain anything! It makes us think that when God steps in a suffering life, God exposes our ignorance and asks us to if we are qualified to challenge the righteous God governing this world. Job heard the Lord loud and clear.
Job railed at God in responding to his friends. Job wanted a face to face with God and he got it. It was more of calling God into account and demanding the Lord of heaven and earth give an account to 'dust' made man! Job was putting God under his beckoning call and control, or at least he thought so.
God stepped in, making Job tremble and asked Job unanswerable questions. God did not approach Job in a quiet hour, putting His arm around Job's shoulders, patting him gently saying, "There, there now. Do you feel a little better? It will all be alright!" No, God pointed out to Job that the human world is filled with creatures beyond the control of man! Not only is there a world of creatures beyond man's control there is also 'wild' humans that man cannot control! And man wants to try to govern God? Man wants to try to figure God out or demand of God answers as to why things are the way they are in our lives? What do we learn? When suffering in this life, we need to realize that we too are in the presence of the Lord God Almighty! He is aware of every hurt and question that comes into our feeble minds. It's then we need to realize we're ignorant, powerless and need to be humble before the Lord. It's not about figuring things out or demanding answers. It's about submission to Him who is above all, controls all and just one word from His lips will change everything. Above all, we need to remember since Christ our Lord has come, we have more reason than ever to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not to lean on our own understanding! Somewhere we must put faith in "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance." (Jam. 1:2-3) Yes, as sovereign Lord, God can govern this world any way He sees fit and we need to trustingly bow before His righteousness in our suffering knowing that Jesus is still ours in the midst of the trial.
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