#105: But Why?

If only my life could once again be as it was when God watched over me. God was always with me then and gave me light as I walked through the darkness. Those were the days when I was prosperous, and the friendship of God protected my home. Almighty God was with me then, and I was surrounded by all my children. Job 29:3-5 (GNB)

The book of Proverbs in the bible paints a picture of God as wise and the source of all wisdom. Considering God's wisdom, everyone is judged fairly and deservedly based on how you live: the just are rewarded and the wicked are punished, but in Ecclesiastes, the writer tries to be very practical and realistic. He says that people do not always get what they deserve - the strong people are not always winners, the fast people do not always win a race, in short, life is unpredictable and difficult to understand. So, is God wise and just? The psalmist severally pondered on this question (as we frequently do, both silently and out loud). There are some psalms that the wicked is seen to be in prosperity and the righteous are in lack, but in the end, such psalms always ended with hope and trust in God and His justice. There is a character in the bible that also questioned God's justice. His name was Job.

From our anchor text, we can see that Job was in an emotional despair. He thinks that God is no longer watching over him and that could be the explanation behind his suffering. He thought himself to be, and indeed, God reckoned him to be a righteous man. In the build up to this chapter of the book of Job, his 3 friends had been going on a dialogue to try and figure out why Job was in the “mess” that he found himself in. Quite frankly, they tried to simplify God by saying that God is just and runs the world on a strict law of justice – the good people are rewarded, and the evil people are punished. And so, if Job was suffering, it simply meant that Job must have done something wrong. This would make Job to defend himself and justify himself. He spends the whole of chapters 29 and 30 to list all his good deeds and righteous acts, which should have disqualified him from any kind of suffering. He thinks that God is either not just (anymore) or He is not being just by making him to pass through what he is passing through as we can see from the anchor text. He could only look back at the past years in order to see any good in God. How many times are we always in this conclusion?

But frankly speaking, is God just? God will guide us to answer this question today by His grace.

The first thing that God wants to tackle is the issue of self-righteousness, which He already started dealing with in the last publication on this blog. Self-righteousness must have been the lesson God wanted to teach Job by allowing the sufferings befall him and I say this, not authoritatively and conclusively, but considering the dealings that God has also done on me in discipleship.  In Job 32 we see a very interesting introduction:

v1 So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

v2 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. (NKJV)

And for the rest of chapters 32 till 37, Elihu tries to bring job into perspective. In chapter 33 vs 8-14, we read:

Now this is what I heard you say: “I am not guilty, I have done nothing wrong. I am innocent and free from sin. But God finds excuses for attacking me and treats me like an enemy. He binds chains on my feet; he watches every move I make” But I tell you, Job, you are wrong. God is greater than any human being. Why do you accuse God of never answering our complaints? Although God speaks again and again, no one pays attention to what He says. (GNB)

I know what is popping up in your minds now, but before you start pointing fingers, meditate on what was said about Job and think about how true it is for you.

So, in order to answer the big million-dollar question of the day: with everything going on in the world, is God just? Well, in chapter 38 of Job, God came to answer that question, but not in a way that we expect, and you will know soon. Job 38:2-3 and vs 8 of chapter 40 reads:

Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you.

Are you trying to prove that I am unjust – to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right? (GNB)

And God takes Job on a tour of the universe and explains to him essentially what Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

“My thoughts,” says the LORD, “are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.” (GNB)

God tells Job that there are many things that happen on the earth and in the cosmos, and they are all engineered by Him. He asks Job if he was there when He was engineering the world and if he can run the affairs of the universe for a day. In other words, God was trying to show Job how limited he was in knowledge, wisdom and skills, and so was so disqualified to question God. He was trying to tell Job that he was looking at the world from a narrow view, but He knows the world in more details. And this was Job’s response in Job 42:3-6

You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions. In the past, I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. So, I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes. (GNB)

The lesson from the life of Job is to trust God (the process). He knows the end from the beginning. We are so limited in our view of things, we don’t see things in the same perspective and dimension as God. What we actually see as chaos is what God in His wisdom has allowed to happen, and He knows why He allowed it – sometimes to pass a message across, to teach us a lesson, to stop us from making a mistake in the future, to make us trust him more, to spur us to be more fervent in prayer, but in all, we must never see God to be wicked, unjust and unwise. Do we only put God to be in a box of prosperity – using our level of prosperity to measure God’s goodness on us? That is being self-righteous and that is what God was trying to correct in the life of Job. Submit yourself to God’s dealings. We should be more concerned and certain that we are still in the sheep fold of the LORD and not concerned of what the bank account is saying or if we are suffering persecution for carrying the cross. God orchestrates everything that happens on the earth…no detail passes his notice. Jonah was another person that had this complex even though he had a deep understanding of how merciful God can be on the unrighteous. In chapter 4 of Jonah, we discover that the reason Jonah ran from God's assignment was because he knew that if the inhabitants of Nineveh repented, God would not destroy the city. He wanted God's justice straight on for the city and this is what God addressed to him in vs 10 and 11 of chapter 4 and even though the book ended in these verses, I hope that Jonah went home with a better understanding of why God runs the world the way he does; that is the same lesson we must take home today:

The LORD said to him, "This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn't make it grow - yet you feel sorry for it! How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals. (GNB)

Prayer: LORD I am so sorry for doubting your justice in the past. I submit myself to Your will. You are the potter and I am the clay. Deal with me as You see best. Help my heart to always trust in You. Even when my strength and heart fail me, I know You are my faithful strength during trying moments. Cause me to see things through Your lens, in obedience to You. Amen!