8 “If I were you, I would go to God
and present my case to him.
9 He does great things too marvelous to understand.
He performs countless miracles.
Job 5:8-9, New Living Translation
I’m back to reading Job– for the billionth time. I decided this time, I will muscle through it. (But I must admit my track record isn’t the greatest.) I must tell you, the post that follows may not be for you, if your face turns red— stop! Don’t try to read anymore; it’s not for you. Walk away. It’s not worth it.
These two verses, combined– create a mindset of a bold confidence. The speaker (not Job the “wonder-guy,” but mere Eliphaz) creates an anticipation of ‘what if?’ His advice, is to turn it over and make it God’s issue. Let Him deal with it, it is his job. Lay these issues on his doorstep, ring his door-bell, and run away quick.
But the speaker goes right to the source– revealing a definite purpose. People like this are uncommon, more or less rare. But we admire them for it, after all it gives us ‘slackers’ a warm, fuzzy feeling as we gaze on their zeal. But human solutions will rarely bring out a righteousness of God. We see them, admire them, want to be like them… but guess what? It fizzles out into an embarrassed realization as we start to understand; this isn’t going to work after all.
But we must bring our problems to Him. I will not try to minimize this point. We are not built to carry such loads. We weren’t designed to do this. We approach Him (with some trepidation, if we are reasonably sane) with these ugly and heavy burdens. But we don’t ring His doorbell and run. Rather we stand to meet Him, face-to-face.
“God does wonders that cannot be understood;
he does so many miracles they cannot be counted.”
Verse 9 speaks out of a reflective and knowing heart. The speaker understands that God works miracles; He has the “ultimate track record.” He does the outrageous; He does things that no one else can do! He is like a magician– wonders happen. The speaker grasps something here. The God who he seeks is a miracle-working God. He is so utterly convinced of this fact that he brings it before Job as a ‘plan-of-action.’
And what can we say? I think there is a lot of ignorance among some who call themselves “believers.” We catch a fleeting glimpse of His Glory, and suddenly we launch a ministry and a “speaking tour.” In our very brief encounter with Him we suddenly become either theologians, or talk-show hosts of the religious persuasion (of course, on TV).
There are no crispy clean answers, but as we humbly, and seek Him brokenly– without any aggrandizement or posturing, He will work. But we must deal with our own urge for “hucksterism” or a feeble manipulation. It can’t, and won’t work, at least not the way we think it will.
Connecting with Him is not super hard, but it will cost us everything we have. When it is truly real, you will know it by a price that must be paid.
Related articles
- Overcoming Struggles – Part II (tehgood.wordpress.com)
- Be the Miracle (rajeshkumarblogger.wordpress.com)
