Questions for God fill our minds . . . when we don’t understand His heart or His purposes.
Questions for God arise from a place of unresolved pain that is resolved when we entered His presence and examine our questions with God’s truth rather than examining God. We are finishing the book of Job today with a speech from God to Job in chapter 41 and Job’s reply in 42. And it has been an up-close and personal view of Job’s suffering in this book, as well as the spiritual battle to trust God in the midst. Job’s friends judged Job or his questions and his suffering. And we have learned many lessons from Job’s inquiry. The blame game/accusing God does not set us free from our struggle. It just deepens our struggle.
Job thought it was God’s fault that he encountered suffering.
God does not cause evil. He wants to be our comfort and our rescue in times of trouble.
Job thought that being a good person should mean certain blessings.
There is no one good.
Job thought that God was unfair.
God is always fair. He is perfect.
Job’s friends thought Job was to blame.
It was the enemy of our souls who was.
Are Questions Ok?
It is prideful for the created beings to think they know more than the Creator. In humility, we understand that God can do whatever He wants. He does not answer to us. The wrong thinking on Job’s part and on ours is that we make ourselves “god” and think our understanding is right. We question the One Who made us. The wrong thinking stems from an entitlement mentality based on humanism. It is a revolt and rebellion against God. And the enemy of our souls deceives us into believing lies about God.
The Role of Influence
Have you ever had someone gossip to you about someone else and try to influence you against them? This is what the enemy does. Influence us against God and one another with LIES. God invites us to a relationship with Him so we can really know Him. Satan attacked Job because Satan wanted to accuse God. Job was God’s servant. But Satan thought that he could make Job insult God. And, that Job would not trust God if Job was suffering. The enemy of our souls wants to get us to doubt God and to turn away from our faith. He wants to destroy us and condemn us.
Have you ever questioned God?
We probably all have at some time or another, right? Questions aren’t wrong. It is the heart behind the questions that matters. Are we judging God or seeking to understand? It is when we accuse God’s character and goodness rather than trusting Him that we can get into trouble. But answering those questions ourselves with truth from God’s word sets us free from doubting the only One Who is trustworthy.
We question His justice when innocent people suffer.
God is just. Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.” We deem suffering as bad and only want happiness. But this is not Heaven. God is not unjust because we live in a fallen world. We caused that. He is our comfort in this world.
We question His character when bad things happen to good people.
But there is no one good. Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good; not even one.” We deserve hell, but God has given us Heaven. This is not Heaven. Also, see Psalm 14:1-3, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”
We question His purposes when his plan is not to our liking.
God’s plans are good. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God invites us into a relationship and we don’t have to commit intellectual suicide.
The Point of Questions
Job is not the first person to question God and He won’t be the last. It is the motive of our hearts when we approach our Maker that matters. It isn’t wrong to seek to understand, but when we ask because we are judging God, as we saw last week, And as we see from Job, questioning God will leave us awed. God is so much greater than our minds can explore or fully know.
There is nothing vile in Him. No purpose of His can be thwarted. He is just . . . and merciful. He is good, so good!
What makes us question in the first place?
- Expectations. We expect blessings.
- Pain.
- Ignorance. We simply don’t understand God’s ways or His plan.
- Pride. We think we know better.
- Anger. We don’t like God’s plan for us.
Scripture of the Day: Job 42:3-6 (NLT)
“You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance? It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
Application:
- What are our expectations for this life?
- The devil is our adversary just as he was Job’s.
- We will have troubles in this world. Jesus promised us this. But He also overcame them (John 16:33). We can, too, through Christ.
- Sometimes we want to hold onto promises that were never promised.
- Questioning God will leave us awed.
Job is not the first person to question God and He won’t be the last. It is the motive of our hearts when we approach our Maker that matters. Don’t let expectations, pain, ignorance, pride or anger keep you from God’s goodness. He wants to be our comfort in all of our suffering. When we examine the truth behind our questions of a good, good God, we are set free from the lies that keep us bound in endless questions.
7-Fold One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Day #145: Job 41-42
Scripture of the Day: Job 42:3-6
Listen: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Job.41
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