God is Bigger

Just finished the book of Job today.  The takeaways from this study are huge. I've learned a lot, though I've read the book before thanks in part to the For the Love of God blog commentaries I've been following along with as I've been doing the Bible reading.

One -- Job's friends are harshly judged by God; however, they really don't say anything about God that isn't true.  God does punish the wicked and reward the good.  This theme is repeated elsewhere in the Old Testament, even from God Himself (see the Pentateuch).  So why are the friends judged? Where is their error?  It seems to be found in misjudging Job -- in presuming on his motivation, assigning fault to him when there was none. For God Himself vindicated Job as a righteous man, both in the early and latter chapters of the book.  What does this mean for us?  It seems rather shocking to me because judging people, assigning fault to them  is a common practice among people in general, and believers in particular today.  Is  misjudging God's people really so grievous a sin that Job had to offer sacrifice on behalf of his friends in order for them to be acceptable before God (forgiven)?  Apparently so.

Two -- Despite popular opinion that we can rail against God and it's okay -- "God is big enough to handle it" some say -- Job is rebuked by God for accusing Him and for calling for a court-hearing as if God is a peer to be evaluated or judged.

"There is no “outside” place from which to judge him. To pretend otherwise is futile; worse, it is part of our race’s rebellion against God—imagining he owes us something, imagining we are well placed to tell him off." ~ For the Love of God blog

God's rebuke of Job's presumptiousness gives us some of the most majestic descriptions of God and His creative genius.  It's not ok to take God to task, but, even so, the greater sin and God's greatest displeasure is unquestionably reserved for Job's friends who malign Job instead of comforting him, who heap condemnation on him instead of being ok with not having the answers to the why of his suffering.

Three -- God never gives Job a reason for his suffering.  He never reveals the behind-the-scenes chat with Satan. Instead He reveals Himself to Job, and it is enough.  Enough for Job to realize he is out of his depth when it comes to understanding God and His ways.

And so it must be with us.
It must be enough to realize that God is bigger than we will ever know or ever imagine.
It must be enough to simply trust Him, realizing that His ways are beyond our capability to fathom.