In our relationship with the Lord, we are being taught all the time about two realities: 1) God has no limitations, so we must stop confining him by our human thinking; and 2) As human beings, we are loaded with limitations and we must ‘come to the end of ourselves.’ We cannot save ourselves even though people try to face life in their own human understanding and strength daily! (Job 40:14). In light of this human inclination brought about by sin, people will wrestle with God until worn out! But, that is part of God’s plan too; we must come to the end of ourselves! Jesus says it this way, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Mat. 16:24).
We like to make sense of life; it’s part of our comfort zone. However, we will never be able to encompass the thoughts, ways, and plans of God through human analytics. It does not matter how much we try to analyze things or try to explain them, we are lost in our understanding of life without the Creator who is Life itself. Therefore, we must learn to humbly follow the Spirit of God into the Truth and learn to understand as the Lord releases his Wisdom into us.
In our passage today, Job is coming to the end of his argument with God. He is humble and exhausted, so he puts his hand over his mouth, sits down, and listens to his Maker. Job realizes to move forward with God, he must relinquish self-control, surrender his limited understanding of God, and trust divine Wisdom to spiritually guide him into an environment of grace and a meaningful life. Because God loves Job so much, he speaks the Truth to him in order to set him up for success. Basically, Job learns life is about God and not him. Let’s take just a peak at God’s response to Job.
Job 40:6-14 NLT
The Lord Challenges Job Again
6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
7
“Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
8
“Will you discredit my justice
and condemn me just to prove you are right?
9
Are you as strong as God?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?
10
All right, put on your glory and splendor,
your honor and majesty.
11
Give vent to your anger.
Let it overflow against the proud.
12
Humiliate the proud with a glance;
walk on the wicked where they stand.
13
Bury them in the dust.
Imprison them in the world of the dead.
14
Then even I would praise you,
for your own strength would save you.
Prayer: Lord, we get weary trying to make sense of life; so, help us dig deeper in faith and ask for the grace to trust your guidance and plan. Thank you for this lesson from Job, because we must also come to the end of ourselves if we are going to walk with you in this life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.