Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. (Job 38:1-3)
Do you remember when the experts were certain the earth was the center of the universe and the sun, planets, and stars revolved around it? Those who contested this “fact” were arrested, imprisoned, and even killed. Galileo spent the last years of his life under house arrest after promoting a heliocentric model of the universe.
Poor Job spent hours upon hours listening to his friends tell him why he was suffering. They were sure Job had done wrong and if only he would confess and repent, his suffering would end. While Job held fast to his innocence, even he finally had to throw his hands in the air and question God’s justice.
God’s response in Job 38 are some of my favorite verses in the Bible. God is saying, “You think you know? You don’t know.”
In the end, Job is humbled, saying, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
Whatever we say, believe, or think we know about God ought to be held humbly. And anyone who says they know with certainty ought to be looked upon with suspicion. Yes, we still hold convictions and make declarations of faith, but we do so with humility and open to at least listen to other ideas. That applies to topics other than faith, as well.
People who are sure they are right and everyone else is wrong are scary. There is always more to learn and more to discover, about God, life, the universe. Each day should be approached with a child-like curiosity and wonder. Who knows what God has yet to reveal?
Of course, I could be wrong.
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