Much Higher Ways

Read Job 38:1–41:34

1. Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
2. “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?
3. Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.
4. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.
5. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?
6. What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone
7. as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
8. Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,
9. and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? . . .
12. Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? . . .
19. Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?
20. Can you take each to its home?” Job 38:1-9, 12, 19-20

Educators know that much of a person’s ability to learn a particular skill depends on readiness—having developed the mental tools to learn. At the point of readiness, learning is easy, even effortless. Until then, the student simply isn’t ready.

Job is not ready to understand the reasons for his suffering. Despite his well thought out arguments and reasonable appeals, he does not have the mental capacity to understand God’s ways.

The attacks of Job’s friends have only reinforced Job’s belief that he never deserved to suffer in the first place. This belief has made him bitterly uncomfortable with his situation. He wants to know why God has treated him so badly without explaining his reasons or purpose. God finally speaks, saying (in effect), “Do I answer to you? You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you. You need to trust me.”

Other lessons are here for us relate to that idea—finding the answer in God and realizing that God’s understanding is beyond our grasp.

Out of a whirlwind, God spoke to Job (Job 38:1). He didn’t answer any of Job’s questions. Instead, God used Job’s ignorance of the earth’s natural order to reveal his ignorance of God’s moral order. If Job did not understand the workings of God’s physical creation, how could he possibly understand God’s mind and character? There is no standard or criterion higher than God himself by which to judge. God is the standard. Our option is to submit to his authority and rest in his care.