I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Finally, God speaks. God starts with a lengthy reminder of all of the things God does that humans cannot: cutting a swath in the rain for thunderbolts, telling the seas where to stop, created the storehouses of hail and snow. God appears displeased with Job’s petitions, asking, “shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?”
Job repents, acknowledges that he spoke what he didn’t understand, and things he did not know. God accepts this, and then proceeds to tell the friends that they had it all wrong. Where Job complained about his woes and was forgiven, his friends tried to explain Job’s plight. Job must have done something wrong. Job didn’t pray hard enough. God isn’t just or God isn’t listening. These arguments angered God more than Job’s objective and justified grousing.
This is great news for anyone dealing with anything challenging. It’s ok to be upset. And we shouldn’t jump the explanations of Job’s friends. God is just. We haven’t done something wrong. It’s not about our prayers. God is listening. This story does dissuade us from the wrong explanations, but it doesn’t do a lot for the right explanations. I am left with the firm belief that sometimes things happen in the world that I cannot explain and certainly don’t seem like part of any of MY plans. And God’s plans are bigger and better than mine. I don’t know what’s next, but I believe God does.
Getting to the end of Job, I was expecting to write a lot about what Job teaches us about God and trouble. I was, however more struck by the accompanying reflection by A. W. Tozer. He reflects about the relationship between humanity and how we perceive God. “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Hmm. He argues that in history, no society has ever risen above its religion. When we have a limited small vision of God, that’s as far as we will go, small and limited. He also says this happens about whole faiths traditions. The most important things about a church are what it believes and says about God, as well as what it leaves unsaid. A small or judgmental image of God leaves us to become small and judgmental, individually and collectively. Wow.
It’s not what we do that matters most, it’s what we believe about God, because we will always be drawn to that image, and if our image is expansive and loving, that’s where we end up. I want to always believe in a God that is all-loving, all-welcoming, all-accepting, all-merciful. I want to always be a part of a faith community that believes that too, so we can all move towards that vision of God’s kingdom come. Job didn’t diminish God, even in his trials. He didn’t make God less loving or just. But his friends did.
It’s an unseen mysterious connection between what we believe about God and how we behave. And I’ve seen it in my home, in my better moments. When my loved one is especially snarly, I can be all-loving because I believe God is all-loving and God loves my snarly loved one, and asks me to too. When my loved one goes to the store in a sweatshirt and underwear, I try to be all-accepting, because God accepts my pants-less loved one, and asks me to accept them too. That’s not to say that I condone or encourage pants-less attire, but sometimes it happens. Other times, I’m not so loving or accepting.
This morning, I’m thinking about the idea that humanity will never grow beyond its thoughts about God, and conversely, how we can grow beyond what we previously thought possibly, as we’re striving towards a bigger image of God.
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