Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Here is a cheery story to start your day: the story of Job. Job had lost his health, his wealth, his family, and his fortune, and he couldn’t find God anywhere. But his friends found him, and with friends like Job had, who needs enemies or problems!
Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends says, “If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up.” He seems to be saying, “If you will just confess the sin you know about, Job, everything will be okay because God never does this to people who are good.”
Well, that was a painful accusation, and Job gives a painful answer. He says, “Oh that I knew where I might find him!” He said, “I wish I could find God! If I could find God, then I would argue my case in His court. I would tell Him of my innocence. But I can’t find God. I’ve looked up and down, left and right, but I can’t perceive Him, behold Him, or see Him.” Job continues, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job basically said, “I don’t understand God’s way, but God knows mine.” That is a wonderful thing! God knows all about it. God knows all about you.
Your relationship to God should be characterized by your faith and God’s omniscience. Sometimes we get those things inverted. We think, “If I just knew everything, then I would be okay. If I just understood God completely, then I would be okay. If only God would trust me.” God doesn’t need to trust us in the classic sense of faith. God knows everything. He is omniscient. It is not as if He perceives things, thinks about them, and then decides. No, God has absolute knowledge. He is in the future. He knows the present, and He knows us to our core.
On the other hand, I don’t even know some of the most basic things about life, so I have to trust the One Who does. God’s ability to know everything and my decision to trust His knowledge are what characterize life in two particular settings.
The first is calamity. It is a lonely thing when you are surrounded by people who don’t seem to understand you. Oddly enough, that lonely feeling is a common feeling. Everyone individually has that feeling at times even when they are together collectively.
Think about calamity. Job’s friends could not understand what Job was going through. Job himself knew very little about the working of Heaven and what the devil had said to God. Job didn’t know any of this, so all he had was his integrity and his faith in God. Your relationship to God will be characterized by your faith in God’s omniscience when it comes to calamity. God knows and I can trust Him.
The second setting to consider is your conscience. Basically Job is saying, “Look, I am innocent. There is no specific sin of which I am aware. If God were to shake me up and test me, I am going to come forth like a bar of pure gold.” I think the Job of chapter 42 would contest that claim. I think he would have felt like that was a little bit of an overreach, that he wasn’t as innocent as he thought he was in comparison to God Almighty. However, there was no specific sin of which he was aware. So, that is talking about conscience. God knows if I am innocent.
God knows your calamity. God knows your guilt or innocence. God knows your conscience. Today, rest those things with Him. Allow God to be the One Who knows everything, and ask God to help you to trust Him since He does.