Knowable

Sometimes we think we know how God works.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.  Where were you when I laid the foundation of the Earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.  Who determined its measurements, surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? - Job 38:1-7

In today's reading, Job finally hears what God has to say to him, and it isn't what he was hoping for.

God lays into him, telling him he has no way of knowing what God's intention was in creating this world.

That's not really what I would want to hear if I was seeking answers from God, but that, I think, is the point.  What do we think we know about God?

We Christians tend to build our image of God as a loving father because Jesus taught us to pray that way, but Jesus also gave us parables to help us understand the kingdom of God, the world as it is and can be.

There is no denying that this is a hostile planet we live on, and it was hostile long before we started messing around with it.  It's not exactly the kind of environment you would want your kids to play in, is it?

But of course that depends on how and what you want your kids to learn as they grow.  If you want them to be able to swim, you put them in water.  If you want them to survive in the wilderness, you take them camping.

So, if God wants us to survive and thrive, He would give us challenges to overcome, not by intervening, but by creating a world that is challenging.

We read the story of Job and we are troubled by God's decision to let the devil deal directly with Job as he pleases.  But that's what life is like, isn't it?

We are fending for ourselves against all odds most of the time.

We can fool ourselves into thinking that we can tame the world by treating it the way God intended, but who knows what way that is?

Everything we do changes the world we live in, even if what we do is nothing.

So, as God told Job, where were you when I created this?

What do you think you know?

The answer to that is known.  We weren't there and we don't know.

More to come...