Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! (Job 38:16-21)
God finally speaks in chapter 38. After 36 chapters of dialogue, lament, philosophizing, debate, speculation, misapplied theology, questions, challenges, and rebukes, God finally enters the scene and speaks to Job. I am not sure the others heard God’s speech or not. The assumption is that they did not. Somehow God spoke to Job one-on-one…perhaps through a dream, vision, or audible voice. Whatever the case, Job hears God.
God’s response is not what we are expecting. It would seem that God would show up, explain to Job the whole scenario with Satan, reveal to Job that his life has been the showcase for the whole heavenly realm, and then remove all his suffering in a single swoop. I guess that’s the type of God we expect or want–One who answers all our questions, resolves all our difficulties, and removes all our pain in a single bound (sounds like Superman).
I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ autobiography when he talks about praying for his mom’s healing when he was a child. God did not answer his prayer and his mom died. Lewis later reflects on this childhood prayer: “I had approached God, or my idea of God, without love, without awe, even without fear. He was, in my mental picture…, to appear neither as Savior nor as Judge, but merely as a magician; and when He had done what was required of Him I supposed He would simply–well, go away.” That is often the type of God we want. One who solves our problems and then goes away so that we can continue living the way we want.
What Job found out is that God does not operate according to our standards or our expectations. And if we are going to question Him, challenge Him, then we should be prepared to be questioned and challenged by Him. God asks Job a series of about fifty questions to which Job has no answer. God was not trying to humiliate Job but simply to remind Job Who He was. More than needing an explanation of his suffering, Job needed a revelation of Who God was. He needed to know that God was still in control, still infinite in wisdom, still powerful, and still concerned with his life. Once Job knew this, he could trust God even when he did not know the answers to all of life’s questions.
I think of my own children. They inevitably think that they know more than they really do. They also think that they can understand more than they really can understand. They will at times question Liz and I’s commands or instructions. They think they have life all figured out and they often want us to prove to them why our way is better than their own. Most of the time we will exercise patience with them and try to answer their endless “why” questions. But sometimes, when they push the envelope too far, we simply have to remind them, “You do not know. You cannot understand. Just trust us and obey us. We are the parents. You are the child.” God seemingly does the same thing in chapter 38. “Job, you do not know all things. You cannot understand all My ways. Trust me. Obey me. I am God. You are not.”
Lord, help me to trust You even when I do not understand Your ways.