January 30th Readings ~ by Andrea

Today's readings from the Chronological Plan are from Job 38-40:5. Click here to read online.

I love this passage of scripture. I -- like a lot of you -- did not really 'get' the previous chapters of Job, but I love how these chapters show God's sovereignty and majesty. In one of my NIV Bible's, there is an Insight section on exactly these couple of chapters, so I thought I'd begin by sharing some of those thoughts.

"In the span of a few days Job experienced more tragedy than most people encounter in a lifetime. He scratched himself with shards of pottery and mourned the day he was born. He could not even suffer with dignity; he had to endure his wife's taunts and his friends' ramblings. Nothing anyone said helped him.

Through it all, Job steadfastly refused to turn his back on God. He had only one request. He wanted to hear from God in person. He wanted an explanation straight from the Source. At last Job got his wish. God answered Job with a speech often quoted for its majesty and beauty. In a touch of irony, God made his entrance just as Elihu was explaining why Job could not expect a direct answer from him.

Job had saved up a long list of questions, but it was God who asked the questions, not Job. 'Brace yourself like a man,' he began. 'I will question you, and you shall answer me.'

Frederick Buechner sums up what follows: 'God doesn't explain. He explodes. He asks Job who he thinks he is anyway. He says that to try to explain the kind of things Job wants explained would be like trying to explain Einstein to a little-neck clam.' God did not need Job's or anyone else's advice on how to run the world.

God's reply resembled a nature lesson more than an explanation of the problem of suffering. He pointed out, one by one, all the creations that gave him greatest pride. In short, God asked Job, 'Do you want to try running the universe for awhile? Go ahead, try designing an ostrich, or a mountain goat, or even a snowflake.'

Astonishingly, the question of suffering itself did not even come up. Yet somehow Job seemed satisfied -- humiliated, actually. 'Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,' he confessed, 'things too wonderful for me to know.' " (42:3 -- which I know isn't until tomorrow's reading)

I must say, I did smile when reading these verses, thinking of God's sarcastic tone. I did find it interesting though, as it said in the insight I just quoted above, that the topic of suffering didn't come up; not one word was said about that topic. Wasn't that Job's whole issue? Why he had to suffer so much when he did nothing wrong to deserve it in the first place? Yet it's true -- Job indeed seemed satisfied with God's response and felt unworthy.

I think this serves as a wonderful reminder to us that even though things may not make sense to us -- God is faithful and God is in control. There may be many situations where we question God. Does he really know what he's doing? or What did we do to deserve a child with a fatal disease? or How could he allow the awful earthquake to happen that is plaguing Haiti? But God is all-knowing and God does know what he's doing. He is running an entire universe, a job that I would certainly never wish to have. And our job, as followers of Christ, is to trust him with our entire being.

Not to say we will never question things that happen -- afterall, we are only human. But in the end, we need to remember that God is God and we are to put our lives in his hands and allow him to do with it what he sees fit. Even if it makes entirely no sense to us.

Tomorrow's readings are from Job 40:6-42:17. Click here to read online.