WHY DOESN''T GOD INTERVENE? - Chapter 27

Philip shares all this with Richard and when he's done Richard says, "There is one big difference between Job's story and mine. For all his troubles, Job finally did receive a word from God. Supposedly, he heard an actual voice out of a whirlwind. But for me, God stayed silent. And I guess that's why Job chose to believe, and I chose not to." He does make a very good point on the surface but what lasting effect did that have on mankind?

Chapter 27 like chapter 26 just rehashes the same question with different illustrations and other perspectives. Philip talks about a beam of light and the difference between looking at it and along it. He discusses "reductionism" which is to take a powerful force and reduce it to nothing by examining it from top to bottom and inside out. Transposition takes up many of the pages, but for me the pages withing chapter 27 presented nothing new or convincing. So I thought.

It may be that I have resolved myself to the reality of only one answer. God is God and I am not. But... within those words, lies a belief that, yes, He is God and I am not but I am His child and He loves me as His own. I do not understand why, or what, or the when other than to know His love for me. While growing up love was expressed to me through provisions. Our household was not filled with words like I love you. If you spent any amount of time in our home you would have quickly picked up on the lack of love as we think of it, or dream of it. Having a home to go to, food to eat, clothes to wear, those things were designated as signs of love. My home -while unpurposed - has enabled me to believe that God loves me even while He seems silent. I do not need people (people being the general population) to tell me that they love me. In fact I'd rather they didn't because I often don't believe them anyway. I don't intend to imply that my take is correct, it comes from the experiences of my home and life. The fact that God does not speak in audible words to me everyday does not make me think He doesn't love me. But there in lies the problem. When God does not provide what I view as my needs then.... yes then,,, I wonder not so much as to wether He loves me or not but most definately, what have I done wrong?

I mentioned that chapter 27 talked about reductionism. We'll it appears that I sometimes reduce God down to the simple position of a provider. AND.......! HE IS MY PROVIDER! He does shelter me under the shadow of His wing. He feeds me and clothes me. But those things are not the end of my requests. What about the job I want? What about the annual income I deserve? God, Jehovah provider, sometimes takes precedence over God, lover of my soul.

My life story influences that all to often. My parents were often silent. As their differences drove them to silence with each other it spilled over to me as a child. Hidden was literally determined by 3 to 6 month separations where they would try and work out their differences in different residences. Unfair? Not really, surely there were worse families than mine. Love was never spoken, it was understood.

The danger of accepting that God's love is understood is that you will miss the depth of his love. Love that is just understood comes with no expectations. That way there is no disappointment. I was not disappointed with my parents. I know they loved me. I am not disappointed with God. I know He loves me. BUT..... my parents are gone and so I can never know the depth of their love. My journey today centers around knowing the depth of God's love for me. Love that is just understood was okay for them but it is unacceptable now. Love determined by the provisions of life was all I had then. But there is so much more available to me today. I am looking for the fullness of God not some reduced version that I have conjured up so that I can find life/God acceptable.