Just so you know, I am not ignoring, nor adopting, or embracing the idea that God and life are two different things. It's not one of those things that I will be able to do anything with in a day, a week, or even a month. So it is sitting on the back burner, just simmering for another time.
Just about the time I think I have a fairly decent view of God, and who He is, and how big He is something comes along to let me know how little I know. Job gets enlightenment, from God, (and that's to put it mildly) in chapters 38 and 39 of the book of Job. I get enlightenment in chapter 25 in the book of Philip Yancey and Disappointment With God. I am going to take my time with this chapter so please don't get bored or impatient. We must and we will get through it together because it is important stuff. perhaps the reason it made such an impact on me is because it is a visual chapter. I am a visual person. I love to use objects when I teach. Anyway....
A man named Elihu gets five chapters of Job to address and ridicule Job's friends and Job's desire for a visit from God. "Do you think God cares about a puny creature like you? Do you imagine that almighty God, the Maker of the Universe, will consider a visit to earth and meet with you in person? Does He owe you some kind of explanation? Get serious Ed... I mean Job!" As Elihu chatters on for 5 chapters a tiny cloud appears on the horizon, just over his shoulder. The cloud continues to draw closer and turns into a storm and then....... a Voice, yes, a Voice like no other speaks out from the storm. (A Voice from a storm! That would do it for all my questions... wouldn't it?) Elihu shuts up and Job trembles. What's up with that? He was asking for 35 chapters for God to show up, He does and Job trembles. God is in the house! He has come to reply, IN PERSON, to Job's accusations of unfairness.
Now I... like Job have an idea of what we want to hear from God at this moment. "Ed..." sorry I mean "Job, I'm truly sorry about what's happened. You endured many unfair trials on My behalf, and I'm proud of you. You don't know what this means to Me and to the universe." Philip says, "a few compliments, a dose of compassion, a brief "behind the scenes" look and all would have been well." But God, being God does nothing of the sort. As if there are not enough questions, God begins by asking questions. God seems to ignore or set aside the 35 chapters of the pain of Job and Philip says, "gives Job a magnificent visual tour of the natural world. A guided tour of the private gallery of His favorite works, lingering with pride over canvases of mountain goats, wild donkeys, ostriches and eagles as if astonished by His own creation." While Philip has accurately described what God did, my take a couple of years ago during my study was a little different. I saw what God did as.... well... almost a slap in the face for Job. God saying, get your attention on the things of God. God, firmly establishing who He is. After all it is a voice from a storm. God then giving His credentials, establishing His authority so that he can say what needs to be said, and that it will be not only heard, but received and acted upon.
In the book Wishful Thinking, the author Fredrick Buechner sums up God's speech this way. "God doesn't explain. He explodes. He asks Job who He thinks He is anyway. He says that to try to explain the kind of things Job wants explained would be like trying to explain Einstein to a clam. God does not reveal His grand design. He reveals Himself. Here it is plain and simple. Ed... I mean Job, Until you know a little more about running the physical universe, don't tell me how to run the moral universe."
Fredrick Buechner and I probably need some form of counseling. Philip sees what is probably the more true character of God verses our "LORD, RULER, MASTER concept. Gentleness and grace verses a slap or an explosion. Counseling may not really be necessary but perhaps a better understanding of the Father's love. I hope that I have come to see more of that over the past year as I have purposed to focus, not always successfully, on the Father, His love and what it looks like for me.
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