Listen

Then Job answered the Lord: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

Job 42:1-3

Think

Do you know the story of Job? When crisis and tragedy befell his family, Job’s friends approached with simplistic explanations. They said, “Job must be suffering because of some sin he committed. The tragedies are punishment from God. Job deserved it. He should have behaved better.”

Their ideas reflect the misguided “conventional wisdom” we sometimes hear today about God. Job knew better than to accept their explanations. But when things got even worse, Job cried out in anguish to God against the injustice.

After a powerful encounter with God, Job had a new perspective, which we read in today’s passage: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. . . . I have uttered what I did not understand.” Rather than settling for the too-simple answers of his friends, Job responded in faith; he wrestled with the deep unknown while trusting God.

Meredith Forssman

Pray

God of power and mystery, sometimes the world seems chaotic and I have more questions than answers. I call out to you for wisdom and trust in your purposes and plans. Amen.

Go

There is a place for you and a time for you.
In the moments when it seems the world is a very awkward place,
Remember that it is still your home.

Gather with your friends;
Open your hand to strangers.
Determine that even in the tensions between
What is and
What could be,
You will trust in the Maker of time and space,
The One who is keeping you to the end.