We live in a time in history where Google and Siri have become our resources for the answers we seek and need immediately. Admittedly, I am just as guilty as anyone, particularly if I hear a song in a store and I need to find out its title and the artist before I go mad trying to remember a song I haven't heard since my sophomore year of high school. #FaithNoMore #Epic #Goldfish Or better yet, when one of my kids has a math problem I am struggling to comprehend (I hate word problems) and in the midst of typing it, the rest of it magically appears in the search engine because I am not the only parent not smarter than a middle school math book.
But what about the questions where I can't Google the answers? The events of this world that make no sense. When pain or heartache or devastation come and it seems there are no plausible explanations and holding on to Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 are too painful to accept in the here and now. What then? How now shall I live?
Certainly I can not say that I have figured this out, but the 34 (at least in the NIV) rapid fire questions God asks in Job 38 do give a bit of perspective.
First, they remind me how very little I know.
Second, they remind that God is a much more effective manager than I could every be.
Third, they give me hope that if natural disasters have not over-run and ruined the created world, the ones I create won't either.
Fourth, they put into perspective the notion that regardless of what I do, ~ good or bad ~ God will determine the magnitude of its impact and the ripple effects that follow now and in the future.
Fifth, they finally get it through my thick, type A, control freak mind that as much as I think I want control and independence, I really, really don't.
Truthfully, I don't go around shaking my fists and shouting out loud the questions I wish I didn't have to ask like "why did he have to die?" or "why is she not getting better?" or "what in the world is going on?" But I do talk to God about my lack of understanding and ask Him to help increase my faith when it seems that doubt is forever creeping in over the hard things. But this chapter towards the end of Job reminds me that even when I can't make heads or tails of what's happening, God is always behind the wheel and He isn't distracted by text messages, falling asleep, or listening the the host of heavenly angels sing so loudly He can't hear me. And sometimes, the greatest blessing He can give me, is the feeling of His grace when He asks me a question that causes me to pause, reflect, and recaliberate my thoughts.
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