God

Job was having a bad day. It was more like a bad week. He pretty much lost everything that wasn’t nailed down. In tough times people tend to question God. Job was no exception as he shared these words:

And now my heart is broken. Depression haunts my days. My weary nights are filled with pain…I cry to you God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you and you don’t bother to look. You have become cruel toward me. (Job 30:16-21)

When Job was done complaining, God had a few words of His own for Job. The words recorded are some of the most beautiful, powerful, and passionate Hebrew words ever written:

Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself, because I have some questions for you. Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb? Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up? (Job 38)

And God was just getting warmed up. He takes a break and asks Job a question: “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?” Job replies: “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.” (Job 40:1-5) God continued on for a little bit more just to make sure Job had the point. And Job got the point: That God is God and Job is Job. That God is God and Job is not God. At the end of the Book of Job, God blesses Job. Job got some new livestock, new children, and lived a long, good life.

But Job’s biggest blessing from God wasn’t possessions or people or the length and prosperity of his days. Job’s biggest blessing was his encounter with God. Job knew for the rest of his days that God was big. That the world was God’s idea. That Job was God’s idea. No matter how big Job’s problems seemed—God was always bigger.

Suffering. Job knew it well. Thousands of years later, things are still pretty much the same. Most of us suffer some of the time and some of us suffer most of the time. Jesus even tells us such is the case: I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. –John 16:33

God. He created the world. He loves the world. He created us. He loves us. Troubles and problems happen to us in the world that God created and loves, but God is bigger than any trouble that will ever come our way.

In Christ,

Craig