Day 237

Job 16:1–19:29; 1 Corinthians 16:1-24; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 22:1

WHEN WE’RE FACED with a problem, we like finding the solution. When we’re faced with a question, we appreciate the arrival of an answer. But the truth about a question is that it often leads to more questions. And if we’re willing to keep asking questions, we will invariably arrive at a point where human wisdom fails. It is also the place where we often find whether our faith is unshakable, conditional, or absent. After all, faith isn’t required for what we think we already know.

Job’s questions were beyond human understanding. He was feeling desperate and hopeless, yet his friends were only offering lengthy answers that fell short. “I have heard all this before,” he told them. “What miserable comforters you are! . . . I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you” (Job 16:2, 4).

Have you ever experienced a similar situation? The dialogue between Job and his friends is quite revealing, because so often when we see a brother or sister going through a difficult situation, we are quick to offer corrective advice. Although such advice might make us feel good, it often doesn’t answer the questions of the suffering person. Many times, we’re only speaking to our own fears and faithlessness.

Job’s questions and laments had agitated his friends enough to turn the conversation away from comfort into an insulting argument that quickly became a battle over who was right. But Job’s hope in God was unshakable. Despite the fact that his questions remained unanswered, in faith, he continued to urgently yearn for an audience with God, face-to-face, where he could find understanding. Which again brings us to one of the most riveting declarations in the Bible —one that we should ponder when questions remain unanswered and our faith is threadbare:

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!

MEDITATION:

I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.