“Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.”
– Job 38:3

Questioning God is a common human pastime. Especially when things don’t go the way we planned. “Why, God?” “Why me?” “Why them?” “Why now?” “What were you thinking?” “I need answers!” Perhaps you’ve asked your share of questions. Many have.

The resolution of Job’s story comes when God begins speaking to Job in this verse and the following chapters. Not to answer Job’s many questions and complaints. But to reveal how impossible it is for a human being to understand the answers if we ever got them. God does this by turning the tables and asking Job question after question. Questions about the creation of the universe. Questions about the patterns of nature. Questions about the weather. Questions about the wild animals of the world. Questions upon questions.

While Job never answers any of them, his answer to each question would, of course, be “I have no idea.” What God reveals to Job through dozens of questions is the enormous gap in understanding between an infinitely knowledgeable, wise, powerful, and good Creator and… us. The universe is full of secrets we can’t understand and yet, everything comes together to make life not only possible, but flourish. That’s the goodness and wisdom of God. He loves life! That love leads to situations we can’t understand because we can’t see all of space and time simultaneously the way God can. We can’t understand all the ripples and ramifications of every moment and action. But God can.

God’s questioning has its intended effect…. Job comes to understand that peace and satisfaction won’t be found in receiving answers he can’t understand. Instead, it comes from knowing God better, drawing nearer to Him, loving Him and being loved by Him. The offer is available to you through Jesus Christ! As hard as it can be during seasons of unfathomable pain, don’t pour your energy into seeking answers you won’t receive. Devote yourself to a deeper relationship of love with God! #FollowJesus

“He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
and opens their ear by adversity.
He also allured you out of distress
into a broad place where there was no cramping,
and what was set on your table was full of fatness.”
– Job 36:15-16

One of the essential truths of Job is that we simply can’t understand the depth and breadth of God’s thinking. He is all-good, all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful and we definitely aren’t. He knows when a tough spot now is essential for your growth and development, your spiritual protection and maturity, and quite possibly, the salvation of people generations from now. We simply can’t think through all these things.

Which leads us to this truth that makes us scratch our heads sometimes, even as some part of us grudgingly understands…. God can use affliction – suffering, difficulty, pain, weakness, sorrow, loss – to rescue us from greater affliction! The truth is, we usually lean into God far more deeply in hard times than in easy times. We often look for (and find) God’s presence most diligently when we’re walking through the valleys of life. We often understand what Jesus did for us better after experiencing betrayals, rejections, oppositions, and sufferings that are small compared to what He went through for us. Our faith grows faster when it’s tested and we hold firmly to it, seeing for ourselves that God is always faithful.

While we could wish that no affliction was required, most of us benefit, grow, and mature through the hard seasons of life. If your faith isn’t tested by fire, you will always question whether it will sustain us in a bigger fire. After the fire, you know the quality of your faith and the faithfulness of your Lord. The attention-focusing power of hard seasons in life can also steer us away from far greater afflictions we may be tempted to get ourselves into through foolishness, sin, or unbelief.

This promise is true. If Jesus is your Lord, then God is working and active for your good during hard seasons. In due time, God will bring you out of all your distress and into the glorious feast that is His unending presence. The great celebration that never ends with Jesus your Messiah. The beautiful, open “broad place” where there is no suffering, no sense of imprisonment, just freedom and eternal joy in Christ. #FollowJesus

“If he should set his heart to it
and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to dust.”
– Job 34:14-15

God isn’t just your Creator, Redeemer, Father, and Friend. He sustains you along with everyone and everything you know. Your existence today is an act of His will. The universe in its entirety is held together at all times by the sustaining will of God. The forces and laws of nature exist from moment to moment by His will.

Too often, we only think about, pray for, and give thanks for the “big things” God does “for us”. In truth, we have much to meditate on and be thankful for simply because we are alive and breathing today (and because there is air to breathe). Rejoice that gravity works, up and down still point in the same direction as yesterday, and time continues to move forward!

Give thanks that your heart continues to beat through complex processes you probably don’t understand. Give thanks that countless invisible activities sustain your life while you’re reading this. All this is the gracious will of God! Apart from His will, we would return to dust very quickly. So, whether today is shaping up as you hoped or not, be thankful that it’s shaping up at all! ‘This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!’ (Psalm 118:24). #FollowJesus

“Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his seat!
I would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.”
– Job 23:3-4

Ah, poor Job! Even he finally gave in into the false thinking that if he could just argue with God, all his problems would be solved. Many Christians think the same thing in times of despair. “There must be some mistake…” “What is God doing…” “This isn’t how it’s supposed to work…” Asking to speak with the manager about his complaints isn’t going to solve anything for Job. It generally doesn’t solve anything for anyone. Why not? Two reasons…

First, Job is wrong about why he’s suffering. He’s fallen into the same theological error as his so-called friends. He believes his suffering is being caused by God. He’s forgotten the existence of the devil, who is the real source of his pain. Wrongly blaming God for your suffering results in a lot of warped theology. Job’s desire to argue with God is literally barking up the wrong tree.

Second, and this is arguably more important, Job forgets that he can’t ever fully understand God, His will, and His ways. God is an infinite being. He’s all good and utterly without sin. He’s all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise. He sees all of space and time simultaneously and knows exactly how everything is going to unfold across countless generations. For theses reasons, God’s plans unfold in ways we simply can’t understand. We can’t understand how hard things today can yield glorious fruit generations from now. But God can!

When we long to argue with God about how He’s running the universe we do so from an incredibly narrow perspective – one moment in time and overwhelmingly focused on one single person – ourself. This is why a desire to debate with God, to dump our complaints on Him and blame Him for what He’s doing will never satisfy us. Never!

Do you know what will satisfy? Trusting God and intentionally laying aside doubts, questions, indignation, and argumentation to simply draw near to Him in faith and love. Abiding in Him. Dwelling in His presence. Meditating on the person and work of Jesus and His sacrificial death on your behalf. Choosing to delight in Him rather than debate with Him. It’s so simple and yet so difficult. Nonetheless, it’s the road to peace and joy amidst the chaos of life on earth. #FollowJesus

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.”
– Job 19:25

Job was a man ahead of his time! Despite living thousands of years ago and enduring terrible suffering, Job could clearly see ahead to the coming of Jesus Christ, his Redeemer. Though it would be centuries before the eternal Son of God would become flesh and be born in Bethlehem, Job already KNEW the Lord!

Job knew that he needed a Redeemer and that he had one in Jesus. He knew that His eternal Redeemer would one day enter our world, setting foot upon the earth. He knew that his own salvation wasn’t rooted in his personal perfection but the redemptive work of Christ. Job probably didn’t know the name “Jesus” but he firmly believed in his Redeemer. That faith sustained him in his pain. Like Abraham, that faith was counted as righteousness.

Can you hold fast to this same confession during the hardest seasons of your life? Remember that even when things are darkest, the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, is your Redeemer and He is ALIVE! Jesus stood upon the earth, hung upon the cross, rose from the dead, rules from heaven, and will once again stand on the earth one day. Until then, hold firmly to this confession, because your Redeemer LIVES! #FollowJesus