In my journey through the Old Testament, even the parts that might feel less exciting or harder to understand, I found myself at the book of Job. I really enjoyed the book of Job and thought I fully understood it already. To my surprise I discovered a new lesson, a truth that we all can discover and learn from Job and his experiences. This new lesson is the one I will discuss today, and it’s not lighthearted or easy, so be forewarned. You cannot unhear a truth, so proceed with caution. 

Here’s some background. The last few chapters of Job are a call and response between God and Job. Job had spent the majority of the book questioning God, demanding to know why and what he had done to cause his suffering when he saw himself as blameless. I’m sure his accusing friends only exacerbated his feeling of frustration.  Perhaps you feel bad for Job, after all he was touted as an example of a righteous Godly man in the beginning of the book and still God allowed him to be so cruelly tested. Satan was given permission from God to try Job. Job did not pass completely.  Sure, initially he stayed true, and he did not curse God and die as his wife recommended. Yet the more he spoke back and forth with his friends and the longer he sat in his grief and pain, he began to grow bitter and very angry.  This led him to respond in a way he should not have. Out of his anguish and grief he became irreverent towards God. He demanded that the God of the universe answer him and meet with him. It wasn’t so much that he wondered why or had questions, the issue was in the way he asked the questions and the attitude behind the questions. It changed from humble supplication to prideful accusations of God being the one who was hurting him.  Job began to see God as the cause of all his pain, because he held no guilt in his mind. He was defensive and, as often happens when we become defensive, he went on the attack of the one he saw as responsible for his suffering.  Job felt absolutely justified in lashing out at God.

God may not work in the way that you choose or in the timing that you see as right, but that’s because He’s God.  He has full understanding and all knowledge, we do not. He does not have to answer to us, although sometimes he may choose to. We don’t get to determine God’s response, action or inaction.  If someone told you that God had to answer to us or do what we want, then they have mislead you. God does not fear man, what could we do to him? It’s ridiculous to even contemplate although it is the lie often told.  

In Romans 9 it says” what then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. In another scripture we see that pharaoh was raised up for a reason. 

“’I(God) raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ For God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me ‘then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?’ But who are you, a human being to talk back to God? Should what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘why did you make me like this?’ Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory, even us whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.” 

Wow, God doesn’t choose for us because he’s given us free will, however I fully believe he knows what we would choose, and he can use those who go against his will to still give him glory. God’s will is done, not ours.  We don’t get to choose what test and trials we will have to endure. The reality is because of God’s position, being the only God and our Lord, we must choose to submit, not my will but yours Lord.

We cannot forget who we’re talking to and praying too. We cannot forget that it is his will and his way, not our own that will be done.  Job found himself in a very difficult place, in a trying time, and he forgot who he was talking to and about. He didn’t sin otherwise, but in becoming so irreverent to God and prideful in his continued promotion of his own innocence, Job found himself in the wrong. He got lost in the why and forgot who.

If there’s something happening that we don’t understand in our experiences, we shouldn’t get lost in the question of why either. This is a hard thing not to do.  Our human mind wants to understand the reason, just like Job. Yet I want you to consider if it would have made Job feel better to know that what he was going through was a test? According to the scripture, whether it’s an allegory or real, God allowed Satan to essentially take everything from Job that was material, even his children.  God permitted Job because of his reduced circumstances to become viewed as a pariah and to be physically ill, even tormented. God did not make those things happen, but He did allow it. You can debate whether you think this is fair or not, but I’m quite sure fairness does not factors into God’s decision-making process. That’s a very human concept. God is just and He did eventually restore back to Job not only all he had lost but a much greater portion. Did that make what he went through fair or ok? If we get lost in that questions and in the why, then we miss the point of the book of Job entirely.

Job clearly demonstrates that sometimes things can happen in life that are unfair, that bad things do happen to good people, and that we can never, with our limited human understanding, comprehend the reasons. Yet Job was never out of God’s love; God never abandoned Job even though I know Job felt that way.  God very simply allowed him to be tested, and some might say to be tested in very cruel ways. 

Job’s friends made it worse; they didn’t blame God for Job’s condition so the fault must lie with Job. That’s why Job got so defensive. He didn’t know why his suffering was happening and he didn’t believe it was because of something he had done. He was not wrong, and neither were his friends who didn’t blame God. Job hadn’t sinned and God wasn’t punishing him. I want to be careful and make the clear distinction here that God didn’t do the harm to Job.  Satan was the one who harmed Job, brought about the loss and sickness. Still Job suffered regardless of who caused it. 

If Job had done nothing to cause the calamity that he experienced, then what did he have to repent of at the end of the book and what lesson can we learn from Job. In Job’s anguish, he had become absolutely irreverent and openly hostile towards God. We learn that there is a right way to approach God and a wrong way.

We know that because of Jesus there is now a way for us to approach God directly, but I wonder if some have erred in the same way Job did. Do we think because we have direct access that we can come with any kind of attitude and say anything we want. Have we forgotten who God is and lost our reverence, our fear of him? Have we forgotten who it is that we are approaching?

He is not just a “god” that we can carve an image of, that only handles one small part of nature, that has human understanding and lack of foresight, that has petty human emotions and callously acts with no regard for humanity. No, He is the only true God. He is the one who is and who was and who will always be. No one understands Him except His own Spirit. He is all-knowing, all-seeing, and absolutely sovereign. There is no one and no thing that is His equal. For us to even begin to gain true wisdom we have to have start with the fear of the Lord. 

We don’t talk very much about this because we want God to be approachable. We want a tame King, easily moved and swayed to what we want and our will. We think come as you are means that you can approach with irreverence and any attitude. Don’t get me wrong, God did make a way for you to approach Him as you are, but you need to be aware of who you’re approaching. 

Let me remind you. God is the one who simply spoke and everything you see and know just became. It was because He allowed men free will that we have been able to so completely devastate this beautiful creation He made. We brought sin and death here by our will, but only because He gave us the free will to make the choices that would cause that destruction. Still, nothing is out of His control, nothing is impossible for Him, and nothing is unknown to Him. He is so amazing, and so much more than our minds could ever imagine or contain. We should always remember who God is, and approach him in accordance with his power and authority. Humbly and with reverence approach the throne of grace.

At the end of the book of Job, he finally understands that he was wrong in his approach, that he had been prideful in his blamelessness, and irreverent in his anger. Job says, 

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” 

Job realized fully who God is and how in light of the awesomeness of God he should respond in full humility and in a way that showed honor and respect for the Lord. Job goes on to say that he despised himself and he repented in dust and ashes.

Today, I challenge you to examine your heart and your approach to God.  You see, not only should we start with the fear of the Lord and be humbly reverent before God, we also should be repentant like Job. None of us can say that we are holy or perfect. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God, yet many times we have angrily demanded to know why our situations are the way they are. In our pain and our suffering, we accuse God and demand an explanation. When we do this, we have forgotten who it is we are talking to. It’s not wrong to want to understand, but it is wrong to shake our fist in the face of God and blame him for what mankind has brought on itself – death, sickness, disease, laborsome toil, grief, and suffering.  These are the consequences of sin and that is on us. 

If we think that God owes us an explanation, we will find that we are very wrong. God is the one with the right and authority to question, to accuse, or even to hold others accountable. He is the only righteous judge. We have to learn to respond the right way and approach God with reverence and repentance. God does not want our excuse, our explanations, our justifications, our complaints, or our arguments. No, he wants our repentance. How many times in scripture does He say, I don’t want your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, but I want your repentance.  He wants a humble and a contrite heart. Yes, God is good, God is kind, and God is loving. These things are all true. Yet those truths don’t mean that life is always good, that people will always be kind, or even that you will always feel loved by God. Here’s the hard truth, here’s what we know but wished was different. He loves us whether we feel loved or not, he is just whether life is fair or not, and He is God, and we are not. 

If you believe that if I do good, then God will give me good, then you don’t understand the truth. You’ll find yourself in the same position as Job, because inevitably things will happen that are not good even when you are being “good”. This kindergarten theology has led many to the very dark road that Job found himself on. Many respond the same way Job did when he walked that road. We question, we become angry, and we demand an explanation from the God that hung the stars in place. We’re just one blade of grass among the millions He cares for. That He would ever look our way should astound us. And yet, we defiantly demand answers from Him.

I know that this is a hard truth.  Still, it is truth, and we need to hear it. We need to recognize that our response to situations and circumstances that we don’t understand or see as fair should be different in the life of a believer. Yes, we can tell God of our pain and suffering and ask for relief.  We must always remember, even in our pain, to approach the throne of grace humbly, understanding God is God and He is deserving of all honor and reverence. We have to acknowledge and accept that in the life of a believer, things are not going to be done in the way and in the time, we plan and recognize that the things happening to us are not necessarily judgment or a punishment. We may never in this life understand why, and even if we did it wouldn’t fully take the sting away from the sufferings we face. We need to adjust our approach and repent for when we have erred in approaching God incorrectly.  For our proud attitude, our false accusations, and our demanding haughtiness we can and should seek forgiveness.  That’s what Job did, and that’s what we should do. 

I also am not saying that if you’re going through one of those times where it just doesn’t make sense and it’s painful that all you have to do is repent and God just gives everything back to you in a double portion. I know, God did restore Job and greatly bless him after he humbled himself and repented. Yet we cannot presume to know what God will do in response to our repentance. Just like doing good doesn’t mean that God has to protect you from all ills and trouble, repenting doesn’t mean that all your troubles will go away either. Even if Job hadn’t been fully restored, he still would have at least had his relationship with God brought back into alignment. He would have had peace. The restoration we should be concerned with is spiritual not material.

Fellow believer (and this for me too) I want you to know that today you can approach God, and you should do so humbly.  You can even have questions because that’s a natural response. The important thing is that we remember why and how really don’t matter so much, only who we believe in does. Let’s fear the Lord, let’s honor Him as he deserves. Let’s trust in His absolute sovereignty. We can either learn this lesson in this life or we will discover it there, but once you are there, there’ll be no opportunity for repentance or making it right. This is one lesson you don’t want to learn too late.

Responsive Prayer – Lord, today we come with humble repentance because we know how terrifyingly awesome you are, and how deficient, powerless, and unrighteous we are. You don’t owe us anything. Whatever we’ve received from you is more than we deserve. If the only thing at the end of this life that we can say we received as a gift from the Lord was salvation and the opportunity to share eternity with you, then we’ve already received everything. Forgive us when we have forgotten, we humbly repent of our pride and arrogance.

Lord, help us to keep perspective. Help us to remember you are God and we are not. We praise you Lord, that though You could crush us, though You could choose not to love us and be distant from us, that quite often because of your kindness, you show us mercy. We bow before you, submitted to your authority and sovereignty. You alone are God, and you alone deserve all praise! Amen.