when Faithfulness is not enough.

Job and his friends knew all about faithfulness. In terms of wealth, there was no one like Job. And judging from the personal friendship that he had with the three visitors, they were probably of high standing as well. Job in particular knew about the faithfulness of God. He led a blameless life, and interceded regularly for his family, and God blessed him with immense wealth. Yet there was something more to learn; there was more of God that Job knew not.

Honestly, the book of Job confused me like crazy. First of all, it's written in Hebrew poetry, which, as a comfortable speaker of the English language, I am not familiar with. Second of all, it's translated roughly into modern English, which, interlingual syntactical and idiomatic differences accounted for, is still confusing. Now combine that with seemingly repetitive and uncommonly snarky sarcasm, and I just don't know what's going on for most of the book. Yet I remember one time when I spoke with a friend who was going through an intense trial regarding her family. She didn't know why God, in His faithfulness and compassion, was allowing such pain and tribulation to go on in and around her. At the time, I had no idea what to say. Why does God seem to perpetuate pain? Why, as Job asks, do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?

At this time, a reminder of God's faithfulness is not enough. Job's friends insist that God is faithful, and that if Job repents of his sins, his fortunes would be reversed. And while God's faithfulness is undeniably real, it does not answer the question that burns: Why? It cannot simply be a matter of open sin, Job lived a blameless life and stood by his integrity even as it came under attack. What Job and his friends needed to learn through this was the wisdom of God. When suffering goes on for so long without a seeming answer from God, the question is "WHY is this happening," not "HOW can I endure?" The answer, then, is that God is infinitely wise.

God sees things so very differently, and He works everything out for our good in the end; it just doesn't always seem like that at the time. I can go through periods of torturous dryness and not have a clue why I feel like the heavens are brass and my prayers are dissolving into thin air, but God knows. He doesn't just know that I'm going through it, and how to get me through it, and how to get me out of it... He knows why it's happening, and He knows in His perfect plan how it's going to work out for my good.

Oh, that we could see that God is infinitely wise in all His dealings, and may that true revelation knowledge lead us into worship and ultimately nearer to Him. Oh God, for trust that remembers You are both faithful and wise!