The Real Question

Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? Job 40:8 NRSV

In the middle of God’s response to Job’s suffering, God asks this piercing question.

We would be wise to ask ourselves, do we criticize and condemn God to justify ourselves, and to make ourselves feel better? The answer to that question will have a huge impact on our faith and the kind of relationship we have with God.

00098047 More times than I want to admit, I catch myself putting others down. Usually they are more popular and powerful, or they have the things I want. The problem is that criticizing them keeps me from building a better relationship with them. It puts me at odds with them. It impairs my ability to love them.

When we condemn God, and justify ourselves by putting God in the wrong, we are setting ourselves up for real trouble!

Isn’t this how sin started? Didn’t the serpent tempt Eve by questioning God, by condemning God’s order and law? Didn’t that condemnation make Eve feel perfectly justified in doing the very thing that would separate her from God?

When we question God, when we try and make God fit into our way of MP900321176[1] thinking, we make ourselves judge and jury. We make our limited understanding the final authority. We make the infinitely wise God fit into our finite human box.

The problem is that God doesn’t fit into any human box. Not only that, when we make ourselves judge, we distance ourselves from God and choke off faith. That’s why God challenges Job with this question.

The kind of faith Job displayed is only possible when we stop trying to make God into our own image. It is only possible when we start conforming ourselves to the image of Jesus Christ.

Only when we fall on our knees, acknowledge our limitations and put God on the throne of our lives, will we be able to grow into a deep, and lasting relationship with our Creator.

MP900422764[1] God’s word to Job reminds me that I need to step off the throne, and make Jesus Christ the Lord of my life. As I do that, my ideas will begin to give way to God’s truth, my way of seeing things will begin to take on a heavenly perspective, and my walk of faith will draw me into a more intimate and deeply personal relationship with God!

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