Scripture Notes: God’s Voice (Job 38)

Job says a lot in the book called by his name, and we cannot really blame him. He is suffering horribly. His whole life has turned upside down and inside out, and his friends, who are supposed to comfort him, end up scolding and mocking him instead. He is miserable, and he tells God all about it. 

This in itself is not bad. God can handle our questions and our complaints. He can handle our fears and our doubts. But Job does go a bit too far at times, especially when he questions God’s justice. Job wants to take his case straight to God, and he is absolutely certain that he is right and God is wrong. He wants a chance to prove it.  

In the end, Job does get his opportunity to stand before God when God speaks to him from a whirlwind. God does not give Job the answers he wants, at least not directly. Rather, He peppers him with questions. Hey, Job, do you know how the universe works? Were you there when I created it? Can you control it and order it and make it work? No? 

Job cannot answer any of God’s questions, and he quickly realizes that God is God, and he is not. And that is his answer. God sees the big picture. He understand the whole of creation in a glance. He puts all the pieces in place and holds the whole thing together. He knows the reasons why He does certain things and allows other things to happen. And because God is perfectly good, everything he does and allows is ultimately for our good. We just cannot see it or know because we are not God. That is the whole point. We have to trust God to know and do and allow what is exactly best for us because He does.