Job 10:2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me
Greeting cards are a big business because they give words to what we intend but may not know how to say. This spring we had Mother’s Day, and many of us gave cards to our mother that said some nice sentiment about our thanks for them. Yesterday we gave a dear friend a birthday card to acknowledge his life and our thankfulness to God for him. Those types of cards can be easier to give than giving a card to someone who is bereaved or going through a difficult time. What do you even say? It is my opinion that the more a card says, the less you really say. Who has time to read a long poetic card when you are grieving or in a rough way.
I recently saw a condolence card with a twist. The card said, “I believe everything happens for a stupid, unfair reason that is stupid.” Then the inside said, “Sorry this is happening to you.” There are two ways of looking at things. You can encourage someone about how God gives grace and quote a verse, or you can say something like, “I believe everything happens for a stupid, unfair reason.” There is a difference between arguing for a purpose and arguing for an answer. Some people are arguing that there has to be a purpose in life. Others, who know there is a God and therefore a purpose, are looking for an answer. They are asking, “Why?”
In Job, Job knew there is a God, so he argued for an answer. The question Job had was, “Why?” Job knew just enough to confuse himself. In verse 15 Job said, “If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction.” Earlier, Job said, “God, I know you don’t see with human eyes, so please see my affliction. I am confused.” Job knew a lot. He knew there was a God. He knew about his friends and his wife. What he did not know and never would know was that there was a devil involved. Even if you know there is a God and that there must be a purpose, you can’t possibly know all the factors that are going on behind the scenes.
So, there is a difference between knowing the purpose and knowing the one who purposes, the Purposer. Ironically, both theologians and atheists can come to a certain sort of fatalism. One thinks, “God is in control, so whatever will happen will happen.” The other believes in sheer chance, so believe that whatever will happen will happen. Why is a question you have if you believe there is a God.
Job asked why in two ways in chapter 10. In verse 2 he says, “I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me wherefore thou contendest with me.” In verse 18 he says, “Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb?” Both questions are compressed in verse 9 where he says, “Remember, I beseech thee, that thou has made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?” He is saying, “God, if You created me, why do you contend with me? If You would contend with me, why did You make me in the first place?”
At the outset, God creating me indicates purpose whether I know what it is or not. God contending with me indicates God has interest in me whether I understand it or not. God cares about me. Hebrews 12 talks to believers who have been discouraged because they don’t understand the things that are happening in their lives. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses…let us run with patience.” Verse 2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” It continues, “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” Verse 7 says, “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.” In other words, God is not indifferent to you. You may not understand why and what He is doing, but if God is contending with you, He is not indifferent.
The bottom line of Job 10 is something like this: knowing who is more important than knowing why. If I have to know why things are happening, even if I know there is a God who created on purpose, that nagging question may not be answered this side of eternity. But knowing who, that there is a God, is more important. It is something I can act upon. So, who is God?
God is infinite. In Job 9, Job argues that God knows everything and can do anything. God is infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, and unchanging. Isaiah 45:9 says, “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, He hath no hands?” What piece of clay being shaped into some vessel would argue with the potter? That cannot happen, yet that is more likely than a reason for someone as finite as a human to argue with the infinite.
Verse 10 says, “Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?” The Bible compares the knowledge of humans to that of clay and kids. God is infinite by comparison, but that is not a comfort if God doesn’t love me. So, what is more important is not just that God is infinite, but that God is approachable. In Job 9:32 Job says, “For he [God] is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.” There is no way I can go to court with God, He is God and I’m not. Verse 33 says, “Neither is there any days man [advocate] betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.” There is no way I can be reconciled as a frail human to an infinite God.
What do we say to this? I Timothy 2 gives us an answer. It says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” God is approachable. He may seem distant and unsearchable at times, but it is important to know that God does regard us. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He is infinite, but chose to be born as a man and be our high priest. Then it says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Sometimes we wish to be like God, to know all the reasons and have all the power, but God came to live like us. When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He knew what it was to be human. He knew what it was to be tempted and misunderstood, to suffer wrongfully, yet He did so without sin. He understands us, but He is infinite as God, so He can meet our needs. I don’t know the answers to the questions you have today, but I know the one who does. Ultimately, knowing who is more important than knowing why.