SCRIPTURE: Job 11
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens— and who are you? It is deeper than the underworld — what do you know? It is broader than the earth and wider than the sea. [Job 11:7-9]
Zophar is right on here, and yet he is way off.
He rightly states that we cannot understand the mysteries of God… and then goes on to explain how things work with God!!!
Saying that no one can solve the mysteries of God, he then goes on to explain them.
‘God blesses good people and punishes bad people!’ – this is how God works!
I think this is an important warning for us – we can have much knowledge and wisdom, yet totally miss the point.
Do we have our theology (our thoughts about God) and our doctrine (what we believe to be true) all figured out?
Have we wrapped God into a box, reduced God and truth to a system that makes sense to us?
Zophar is right, we cannot solve the mysteries of God; and yet like Zophar, we often talk as if we can!
We need to be very careful, and humble, when we claim to speak for God or truth.

Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. [John 9:39-41]
Jesus faced the stiffest opposition from those who claimed to know and understand God.
The religious leaders would have been the first to admit that they could not “solve the mysteries of God”; and yet the way they talked and lived, they acted as if they could.
They claimed to see what could not be seen; they did not realize their blindness!
This has been the problem with christians and the church throughout the ages; we’ve been arrogant about God!
Like Zophar, we judge people based on our understanding of the truth; we act as if we know better!

I have many thoughts about God, about the way things are; I have a ‘theology’ and a system of beliefs (‘doctrine’).
But may I never fall into the trap of reducing God to my theology, my system.
May I always speak with humility, with an awareness that there is so much more than I understand.
“Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. [Romans 11:33-36]
I will continue to hold my beliefs gently, ready to have them adjusted if God leads me to do so.
This is not a denial of absolute truth (I do not believe that truth is relative), but a denial that I absolutely know the truth.
Hold on to what you believe gently; cling to God aggressively; it is not our doctrine that saves us, it is God!
When we face God one day, be prepared to discover how little we really understood, how blind we really were.

That means that right now, as I speak, I need to speak with humility and grace – for myself and for others.
When we meet people we disagree with, we should share our beliefs gently, with an openness to listen and learn.
Those who are convinced they are absolutely right reveal how blind they are.
We can still have our beliefs, doctrines and theologies, but they are always less than the whole truth.
Humble faith recognizes its own weakness and limitation; gentle confidence is always open to learn and grow.
Speak the truth (as we understand it) with humility and gentleness, trusting that the Lord will refine our beliefs and gently lead us into a deeper experience of the truth.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. [James 3:13]

PRAYER:
Lord, forgive me for thinking that I see or understand things better than others. Show me the kind of wisdom that expresses itself through words and deeds that come from humility.