Wisdom requires humility . . .

 

 

READ Job 29-32

Dwelling on my mistakes is sometimes a good thing if it leads to repentance and change, but this can also be self-centered navel-gazing, just one more way of putting me in the spotlight instead of exalting my Savior. On the other hand, when down and down-trodden, a review of how God has blessed and used my life can be medicine for a discouraged and depressed soul.

In today’s chapters, Job rehearses the good times. He thinks of his family, his position as a prominent and respected man who was blessed by all. People listened to his wisdom and all was well. He also talked about his present situation. He was ridiculed by those who once looked up to him and even by those whose opinion was generally unworthy. His friends turned against him and everyone misunderstood him. His afflictions deepened each day.

Not only that, when he called on the Lord, he heard silence, as if he were forgotten. His joy was gone and he was mourning for his losses, even for himself. All that was left was his integrity. Even in all his anguish, he knew that he was all that he claimed to be before God. For him, there was no answer to this deeply painful situation except to keep trusting God.

“If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit; (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!) (Job 31:5–6)

God know the human heart. He knows our intentions and our difficulties. He never leaves us or forsakes us even if we feel alone and without any resources. Reviewing the past, the present, and our hopes for the future along with an honest declaration of all that we are feeling is one way to display integrity. Job did this and in the midst of tough times, he remained full of faith. He trusted in the only One who could truly help him and Job never forsook the Lord.

As I look back at fifty years or so of being a Christian, my errors and failures could easily throw me into a pit — if I make them the focus of my review. Yet God, through the life of Job, tells me to do that review with His faithfulness in mind rather than my failures. In that lies great blessing.

Chapter 32 is interesting. A younger man comes forward. He has been listening to Job and the words of his ‘friends’ and been angered at both sides of this debate. He first goes after the three accusers and says:

“I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you. I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.’” (Job 32:6–10)

I don’t know what I might have said to these three ‘friends’ but Elihu’s rebuke includes a wisdom that many do not realize. He said that understanding comes from God, not necessarily because a person is old and wise. My dad used to say, “There is no fool like an old fool” and Elihu would agree.

However, this young man also knew the possibility that what he says is his “opinion” rather that the thoughts of God, another wise statement. This is a rebuke to these ‘friends’ for speaking without the humility that comes with an admission that not one of us really knows very much. Their words to Job would have been much different had they told him they had no idea why God had allowed this man to suffer.

In my prayers, I realize how little I know of the will of God. When they are answered, the answer is a small glimpse, yet when nothing happens according to my requests, I also learn something: that I’m either to wait or that God is telling me how clueless I am to what He is doing. From Job, I learn that the best thing I can do is to keep on trusting Him. Only the Lord can give me right words and right thoughts. I must admit that when He does (or does not) I may not have a clue about that either. Unless what I say lines up with His words plainly stated in Scripture and unless He reveals it by His Spirit to my spirit, I am just as oblivious as those ‘friends’ when stating my understanding about most everything, no matter my age or how much I study, or much I think I know.

 

Stick up for the truth

 

 

READ Job 21-24

These days are filled with supposes. Helped by social media, these imaginations become fact and even conspiracies. The capacity of human suspicion to become true in the minds of those who make up reasons for events and motivations has reached an all-time high. Opposing theories may contain a measure of truth and those caught in the middle are dismayed by a polarization we seldom experienced before now.

Yet this happened in the book of Job. One man’s faith is tested. Unknown to him, Satan gained permission from God to make a guinea pig out of Job to prove that no one would trust the Lord unless the Lord blessed his life with good things. Couple that with the human tendency to think that good comes to the good and suffering comes to those who deserve it, and Job was attacked by those who were called his ‘friends’.

In chapter 21, Job is so frustrated with their insistence that his misery is due to his wickedness, that he says: “Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort. Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.” (Job 21:2–3) He seems to have given up on trying to convince them of their error concerning his problems and takes a run at their error in thinking only the wicked suffer. He points out that many evil people live in ease and prosperity, not all, but this notion that only the wicked suffer is wrong. After pointing that out, he says, “How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.” (Job 21:34)

Eliphaz answers him with surprising vehemence. His accusations against Job are shocking. Some of what he says may apply in other situations, but he is shooting at the wrong target. Isn’t this a common practice? Today’s newspaper is filled with blame misdirected. In Job’s situation, this “you are guilty” attitude overrides any compassion that should have been there for a man hurting without any obvious reasons for his pain.

But Job is not stupidly listening to them. He knows these accusations are not true. He knows the grace of God’s salvation and that his life is not the reason for his suffering. He is deeply aware and deeply troubled that God knows — but is silent. That silence is as painful as the sores on his body and the losses of his children and his possessions. Note the gems in this declaration he makes:

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind. Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.” (Job 23:8–17)

Job knows that God knows. Job also knows he is being tested. He knows that he will pass the test and come through it — like pure gold eventually comes from the crucible. He knows God does not change and has reasons for what He is doing. This is a fearsome thing, but His silence and the darkness Job is experiencing has not stopped him from defending the truth that he knows. He is not being punished for some hidden sin!

He also knows the ways of God with those who seem to prosper but are sinful. He says,

“They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow. Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain. If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?” (Job 24:21–25)

I used to think that Job was a whiner, but now I see the man debating his ‘friends’ for truth. In the NT, God speaks telling readers to, “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” in response to those who perverted the grace of God. Job did that even in his great anguish. He gives me a great example to follow.