So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong. – Job 34:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 13, 2012): Job 34

I don’t have to know everything. It is not a cop out, I just don’t. I have a doctor that I see periodically. I don’t have to know all the medical stuff, I trust that he knows enough to at least to be aware of the right questions that need to be asked, and maybe the right specialists that I may need to see. I don’t have a lawyer (I need one less often), but if I make a major purchase or need to update a will, I know that I can find one. I don’t have to understand the ins and outs of the law; I can find a lawyer that specializes in the knowledge of which I have need. There are so many things that I just don’t need to know. Just because I take my car to a mechanic doesn’t mean that somehow I am somehow giving up. I just do not need to know.

So why is it that I feel that every time I don’t understand God, either God has to be wrong or my opponents think that God must not exist? Why are those the only options I am allowed? I want another option.

Elihu brings the conversation to a point. It seems that what Job is arguing is that he is righteous – he has done nothing wrong. Because Job and his friends can’t understand what is happening, in their minds somebody has to be in the wrong. If Job argues that it is not him, then by process of elimination it must be God. For those gathering around Job it is the only possible outcome. We might add a second, if these things are happening then God must not exist and everything that happens is really just a random occurrence.

But in the story of Job, God adds a third possibility. Sometimes things happen for a reason that only God knows and only God understands. And I am okay with that.

There are a lot of questions that I can’t answer. How is God going to judge the world? I really don’t know. How is God going to draw all people to himself, how is he going to reach those caught in sin and hurting beyond our understanding? I don’t know? How will the end come? These are just some of the things that I don’t need to understand. God knows and he understands. And what he has instructed me to do is love. And so, I am content to do just that.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 35