I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. – Job 42:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 27, 2015): Job 42

Can God create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it? You have probably heard the question before. It is often thought to be a bit of an artifact question, a nonsense question that belongs somewhere on Alice’s journey to Wonderland. But it is actually just a trick question used by people who do not believe in God to prove their point. The reality is that there is no right answer to the question. First of all, the question seems to admit the existence of God. It speaks clearly about the actions of God. If God doesn’t exist, who cares whether or not he can make a rock too heavy for him to lift. But the question isn’t just a frivolous time waster, a question designed for philosophers to wrestle with. It has a definite purpose – to prove that if God exists, he can’t be omnipotent. If you answer yes to the question, then you are admitting that God’s strength is limited, and that he is not omnipotent. But if you answer no to the question, then God’s creative power is limited, and, as a result, God is not omnipotent. The question has no correct answer except to prove that God, whatever else he might be, is limited in his power.

And it is a question that I tink would have confused Job. Job listens to everything that God has to say. He understands that God has created the Behemoth and the Leviathan, the great untameable beasts of the earth, and yet he can also tame them – God creates and tames the untameable. In the phrases of the question, God creates a rock too heavy for him to lift, and then he goes ahead and lifts it. It defies logic, but then again, so much of what we know about God defies logic. He refuses to be placed in any box that we might design for him. And Job has all of this in his mind as he is confronted by this God. In Job’s mind, all of this is proof of God’s omnipotence. God can do anything.

And because God can do anything, than God’s plans must also be perfect. And if that is true, then there is a reason for all that Job has gone through, even if Job can’t quite fathom what that reason might be – at least not yet. Job’s task is trust God; he doesn’t need to defend him or do anything else – just trust. And since Job now understands God power, trusting him is something that Job can do.

I don’t understand every situation that I have to go through. I don’t have any explanation for the trials and disasters of the earth.  I can’t comprehend why God allows evil to exist on the earth. Oh, I know that I have theories about Satan and evil and darkness, and they can explain some of the evil, but they don’t totally explain away the why of the questions that I ask. I don’t understand why we can’t love. I don’t understand why violence, even passive aggressive violence, seems to be our go to response to what happens in our lives. But that was never a prerequisite of my faith. My responsibility is to simply remember that I serve a powerful God who is working toward what I know is his good purpose. And so I trust. I am not sure what else I can do, especially if I am sure (and like Job, I am) that he exists.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 12