I don’t typically feel like I have a favorite book of the Bible, but Job has a special place in my heart. Disclaimer: there is a key part of the story to which I cannot relate; it’s when Job is so convinced of his own innocence that he wants to state his case directly before God. Job had great confidence that God would find no guilt in him; I do not share that confidence and even if I did, I would not want to plead my case face-to-face with God.
To be fair, it’s not all that difficult to understand why Job was so adamant about his innocence. God practically bragged about him to Satan when He said, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). Can you imagine God saying that about you? I cannot.
When Satan comes to accuse Job before God, he insists that Job only serves God because God protects him. Therefore, Satan asks God’s permission to test Job’s faith and loyalty. And God grants His permission, within certain boundaries. After losing his family, wealth, and health, Job wants to know why the righteous suffer. He gets some answers from friends (who are not helpful), and then Job questions God Himself and learns valuable lessons about just how powerful and all-knowing God is. This leads Job to recognize, even more, his need to trust completely in God.
After seeing and hearing directly from God, Job replies this way:
2 I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 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. 4 You said, “Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.” 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. – Job 42:2-6
While Job was a very righteous man compared to other people, he acknowledged that he had neither God’s power nor His wisdom. You might say that Job realized his place in the world as a mortal human being. He came to understand (as we all need to figure out) that he was not the center of the universe.
Someone has said that “Five seconds of honey on the tongue will show you more sweetness than ten hours of lectures about the sweetness of honey.” And we read in Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” Until God gives you a taste of His goodness, all the theology in the world will not give you the knowledge that changes your heart and saves your soul.
When God came to Job and spoke, taking the initiative to make Himself known, Job tasted the goodness of God. And his eyes were opened. Job gained a new sense of God’s reality. It was more than intellectual or speculative knowledge. It was the understanding of the heart. He had tasted, and then he saw. And the result was a broken and changed man.
Life has broken me to pieces, but I want to change and grow like Job did. I want to stop asking questions that won’t be answered while I live on this earth. As a finite human being, I’ll never understand why the righteous suffer, let alone the unrighteous (like me). But I believe with all my heart that God is good, and that’s enough for me.
Troy Burns