God Speaks to Job (and us)

Read Job 38:1-39:30
 
Now at last God, in the words of James Strauss, Shatters the Silence. And it is exciting to hear his voice at last because this is what Job has wanted all along. It is also exciting because God speaks to Job not to Bildad, Zophar, Eliphaz or Elihu. He speaks directly to Job in a series of questions designed to say, “What can you possibly understand about the way I (God) work?” Finally, notice that God speaks to Job out of the storm. Let’s look at these items individually.
 
First, God speaks to Job. I mentioned earlier in these devotions that I stood outside one time during a particularly difficult time in life and yelled at the sky hoping God would break out and answer me. I felt no better when I was done because God had not answered my questions. I went home that night with more questions in my head than I had started with. I have often wondered what God would have said to me if He had answered (and truthfully speaking, I am not sure that I wanted Him to.). His answer to Job is that Job really knows nothing when it comes to the way things work in God’s order. Probably He would have answered me the same. After reading this I think I will be content to seek answers in the Scripture instead of asking for a personal audience. Nevertheless, God does speak to Job.
 
Second, I know all of us have said at one time or another that we wish God would come down and tell us directly to our face the answers to our ‘why’s.’ But God never really does tell Job why he is suffering. He tells him a bunch of things about the universe and creation and Job is to take his answers from these questions. But how does knowing that God laid the earth’s foundations help us understand suffering? Perhaps it is not about knowing ‘why’ things happen and more about knowing who to trust when they do happen. Or worse, how does watching a raven feed her young help (38) us in times of dire straights? God answers His way and in His time.
 
Third, God speaks to Job out of the storm. The world is not always the peaceful and tranquil place that we want it to be. In order for God to speak out of the storm there must be a storm for him to be present in. I think this is more than a thought to announce God’s presence. Storms often evoke terror and fear, but here God is in the storm and not only is He in the storm but he is speaking out of the storm. David Atkinson rightly says, “The prophet Nahum [1:3] also tells us that “His way is in the whirlwind and the storm.” That is a text we do well to keep in mind whenever we are tempted by the sloppiest sort of devotional literature to believe that life is really a bed of roses. Alongside all we rightly want to say about Christian joy and the gift of peace which garrisons our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, we also know and must affirm that ‘his way is in the whirlwind and storm.’ (139)
 
 How does God begin to help Job in his affliction? By showing him the beauty of creation, the grandeur of the simple, the magnificence of the profound.
 
Prayer Thoughts on Job 38:1-39:30
 
Today, take a walk in a park or in a garden. Enjoy God’s creation. Enjoy an animal or a bird or a fish because of its beauty. Listen to the rain. Watch the sunset in the evening or rise in the morning.