Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
My Part is Faith, God’s Part is Omniscience
Problems rarely come one at a time. They more often come in wolf packs. Problems might be bearable if they came one at a time, but they rarely do. To make matters worse for Job, the people who might have helped him didn’t seem to be much help. Talk about despair! Job’s wife said, “Curse God, and die.” His friends accused Job instead of comforting him, and to make all this even worse, God just seemed to be totally absent.
Job said, “I’ve got a clean conscience, but I wish I could proclaim my innocence before God. I wish I could come to God’s courtroom and argue my own case. If I only knew where I might find Him.” Job says, “I’ve looked everywhere, and not only have I lost my fortune, my family, my health, and my wealth, the people that should be helping me are making things worse. I cannot find Him, perceive Him, or sense Him. I don’t know where He is. If I did, maybe I could argue my case.”
Then he says in a following verse, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job had a clean conscience, and he knew that when God tested him, he would come forth as innocent. Now don’t miss the bigger point: I don’t know God’s ways, but God knows mine. I don’t understand God’s ways, but He knows mine. That’s a comforting thought. There is no way I could possibly comprehend all that God is in my frail mind, but God is able to comprehend me fully.
I’d be happy to completely know what God was doing, but even if I did, what could I change? I could change nothing. But God is omnipotent and omniscient. He knows me to my core. He has the power to change things.
This means that God’s part is omniscience. God knows the way that I take. He knows my innocence or guilt. God knows my life. God knows everything. Job didn’t know of God’s high estimation of him. Job didn’t know about the conversation that God had with the devil. Job didn’t know how this story was going to end; he was living it! We read into Job’s story things that we know will come, but Job had no such luxury. God is omniscient, but I am not. God’s part in my life is omniscience and my part is faith. It cannot be any other way.
There are days when I need to trust God’s omnipotence. There are days when I need to trust the God who loves people whom I do not, and rely upon Him to love those people through me. I don’t know, understand, or perceive everything, but God does. I am trusting God Himself.
When you can’t understand, and ignorance seems to compound the agony of life, remember that God always knows you, and God always cares. God’s part is omniscience; your part is faith.