The argument was intense. A man was suffering and he didn’t know why. His friends thought they understood what God was doing. They tried to tell him what was really happening. But they said more than they knew. They had some good insight about God, but were wrong in the way they used it to try to explain their friend’s problems.
The suffering man fought back in an attempt to defend his honor. But in the process he too said more than he knew.
Finally God spoke. From the middle of a thunderstorm he spoke words that brought the hurting man and his friends to their knees.
Yet what remains so amazing to me is that God didn’t silence the arguing friends by unveiling the mysteries of his sovereign plan for the ages. Instead he talked to them about the wonders of the field and stream.
In some of our conversations, SFDBWV/Steve has mentioned what he and Matt are able to see out of their kitchen window.
I asked him to send along some pictures, and am posting a couple of them here as I also quote the way God responded to the suffering and pain of Job and his friends.
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Have you watched as the wild deer are born? Do you know how many months they carry their young? Are you aware of the time of their delivery? They crouch down to give birth to their young and deliver their offspring. Their young grow up in the open fields…
Who makes the wild donkey wild? I have placed it in the wilderness; its home is the wasteland. It hates the noise of the city, and it has no driver to shout at it. The mountains are its pastureland, where it searches for every blade of grass” (Job 39:1-8)
Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.
You ask, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I. And I was talking about things I did not understand, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance” (Job 42:1-6)
Thanks, SFDBWV/Steve… (Just found this pic of turkeys that you sent and I forgot to add :-)… also, this is a good subject and link to our “see you outdoors” Dean Ohlman and WonderofCreation.org website.