Poor Job. We just saw him trounced upon once more by a lad half his age (my uneducated guess). Job is out of words, and probably out of will. Dejected, he sits by the side of the road, suffering physically, mentally, emotionally distant from all he loved and lost, feeling far from God…
Then God answers in a whirlwind!
First, the whirlwind. God could have come in any number of ways, as even rocks cry out his glory. But after all the “hot air” used to rebuke Job, God decided to out “wind” them all. He made his presence undeniable, his power unquestionable.
And then the voice. What did it sound like? Imagine sitting there with Job through all those boring days of heat, nights of cold, and then lectures ending in silence — only to experience a mini-tornado — with a voice, the very voice of God!
And God addresses Job, not his friends. He speaks directly, asking questions of his own. He focuses on “Who am I?” as well as “Who are you?” Different than Job’s friends who made the case of who God is in order to bring Job to repentance, God uses it to show the differences in their relationship. It’s not about what we do or don’t do, or even the specifics of sin.
It’s all about relationship.
It’s about the trust and faith we can have in a God who is all powerful AND all loving. Even when things are hard, and we suffer, can we trust in him?
And God does not owe us blessings —
Who then is he who can stand before me?
Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
Just as salvation is unjust in that we don’t deserve it, suffering may also be unjust. We have done nothing to deserve salvation. We may have done nothing to deserve suffering.
This goes against so much of what we, like Job and his friends, so falsely believe. It’s the focus of the book of Job. It’s not about worshipping blessing and refuting suffering – it’s about making God what we worship. It’s not about what we earn, good or bad. It’s about understanding our relationship with God and his grace, and placing our trust/faith in him.
God does not owe us anything.
It’s purely by his grace we can be saved.
