In this confusing messy world . . .

Genesis 46; Job 12; Mark 16; Romans 16

Sometimes kings and leaders are blind to their own follies but their foolishness can be plainly seen by ordinary people. We watched a documentary last night on how the ‘war on drugs’ became a money-making scheme that also gave a false appearance of success to the justice system. The bottom line included closing schools and building more prisons, letting teachers go and hiring more prison guards. It appeared that many people failed to connect the dots.

Job, a man who clearly saw the sovereignty of God, realized everything that happened was within His providence. Even though his tone often blamed God rather than crediting Him for His power and control, Job could see what others did not see. He said:

“With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong. He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light. He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste. They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.” (Job 12:13–25)

Even though he knew God was at the root of events and all understanding, Job struggled with the ‘why’ of it all. Why would He shut a man in, or withhold waters, or cause floods? Why would He overthrow the mighty or take away discernment? Why would he make a nation great then destroy it? Why would He remove understanding from leaders so they grope in the dark and stagger as if drunk?

We watch the news wonder the same things. We tend to blame people for their actions, perhaps knowing that God holds us accountable, yet He can influence actions and change people. Remember the leader that God kept from sinning against Sarah when Abraham told him she was his sister? Could God not also keep people from shooting one another or beating their children or doing all the evil that they do?

Some call this keeping power ‘common’ grace. It is not like saving grace that changes hearts but more like a restraint that protects or blessings of a good life for both the just and the unjust. Yet we see less and less of it. This increasing lawlessness is in the prophecies of the last days. What is a person to do?

Job determined to trust God. In Chapter 13, he says, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” For many, that is the only option.

If I enumerated all the other things to be trusted, an honest evaluation shows everything but God falls short. Money cannot fix the mess the world is in; most of it is caused and fed by a lust for money. Powerful people cannot do it either. By the hand of God, many of them cannot see straight, never mind have the wherewithal to change the world. Drugs numb the senses at best, kill those who take them at worst. Hoping for the best isn’t working either.

Rather than go on, my hope is in God. He sent Jesus to die for my sin, to give me forgiveness, new life and eternal life. Nothing compares to that. Even if I often feel as if I am groping in the dark, I know that God controls both darkness and understanding. Job made it through. He had to be humbled but his faith held because it was God’s gift to him.

Far better to trust in the grace of God than to vainly think that I can fix the world — I cannot fix my own life — yet God gives me the grace to call on His sovereign wisdom and power. There is no other but Him.