"Why Me" - Continued
I continued to read on, searching for the answers I desperately needed to understand why my life was so unpredictable and why bad things had happened to me. I was thinking, if I could find wisdom, surely I would know why! This is what I found next as I read.
Then job went on to say allot of things about what wisdom was not, but I needed some answers now! Then he says it again in verse twenty,
Job 28:20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
Job 28:21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
That's for sure; I sure couldn't see it! Why would it be hidden from me? Why couldn't I have understanding to know why this happened?
Then Job goes on to say how God sees and understands wisdom because he made the weight of the wind and measure of the water an exact weight and amount so that the creatures as well as us humans could survive here. I found out through study that about 3/4 of the earth surface is water but it takes that much water to provide the proper amount of humidity for the rest of the earth to survive through evaporation and rain. On top of that, if the weight of the air wasn't exactly what it is, we wouldn't have clouds and rain. Are you beginning to see the picture I was beginning to see here? It's the big picture that Job was talking about here!
Job says that God searched it out and declared it into action before he spoke to man and let's see what he said to him.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Wisdom comes from realizing His mighty power over all the elements and the earth that keep us alive. In Clark's commentary he says that it is believed that God gave the first man Adam the principles of the universe that he would understand how God set it up and that Adam was able to teach his descendants but God also said to depart from evil (the tree of wisdom) is understanding.
I want to make sure we don't miss this because this was hard for me to accept at first! I wanted answers for my bad experience to understand why it happened!
God wanted me to get a bigger picture by leading me to this passage in Job. God wanted me to understand what Job already knew and that was that He, God, set everything around us into motion in just a certain way that we could survive and everything was balanced. Even the gravitational pressure of air was set at what scientist say is fifteen pounds per square inch and the air changed outside of or inside of our bodies it would either push our organs out of us or our oxygen filled blood would run out of our pores! Adam was aware of all that God had done and yet he was deceived into thinking that he needed to take of the bad to have full understanding. That wasn't Gods intention but it was the choice of Adam and Eve to partake of something that was evil.
Look again at verse twenty-eight,
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Job says, "to depart from evil is understanding"
I felt like I was onto something here but it wasn't clear to me how it related to my life.
As I continued reading on in search of the answers found by this man who had suffered so much, I cam to this verse,
Job 30:25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
Job 30:26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
I thought, "Wow! He did that too! He cared about the poor just like I did!" Then I read the next verse and kind of lost hope again that there was going to be an answer here. I continued reading on to chapter thirty-one,
Job 31:35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
Job 31:36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
Job lists everything that he has done and says that he wants to know if anyone finds fault in him!
Then he gets to verse thirty-five where he says that his desire is for the Almighty to answer him! I thought, "Wow, that's exactly what I'm saying here too!". This must be leading up to an answer, right? Then Job said he would take a written legal accusation of his wrong doing and put it on his shoulder or bind it to his head.
Some studying shows in ancient times this was a form of punishment when a crime was committed while they waited for their final verdict so that all who saw them knew they had been accused. It actually was a board with a hole that would fit their neck and the accusation would be written on the board.
This could be an answer to the crime rate we have today! Don't you think it would be a more effective way of fighting crime? Can't you just see the people standing in line waiting to stand before the court? There wouldn't need to be hours of preparation by the court. It would be right there on the board and all you would need is the accusers! Wow! I think they had a much wiser judicial system set in place in ancient times. They didn't need in home probation because anyone with this board around their neck wouldn't want to be seen in public anyways!
Then Job talks about how he would trace back all of his actions and steps to find out what he did to deserve this in verses thirty-six through forty. I felt the same way! I was sitting there thinking back to see if I had done something to deserve what had happened in the past year and a half of my life. I really wanted to understand so I could make it right and get the blessings flowing again. Have you ever found yourself trying to pinpoint something you did to deserve the trouble you were having in your life?
I heard a story once about a man who had pulled up in front of his house and parked next to the curb. As he was going into the front door he dropped his keys. When he reached to turn on the light, nothing happened! The power was off! So he proceeded to get down on the floor and crawl around trying to find hos keys but couldn't seem to locate them. That's when he noticed the light coming from the light pole outside next to his car at the street so he went out to the pole and started looking out there. Crazy right? Well, his neighbor came walking down the sidewalk with his dog and asked what he was doing. The man told him he was looking for his keys. So the neighbor being the good friend he was started crawling around on the ground under the pole with him looking for the keys. After about fifteen minutes of hunting through the grass, the neighbor asks, "Hey, do you remember exactly where you were when you dropped the keys?" and the man said, "Sure! I was standing at the front door!". Just then the neighbor jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "Then why in the world are we crawling around out here searching through the grass!". The man who lost his keys said calmly, "Because I can't see in there."
Isn't this how we so often look at our problems? Well, Job didn't do that! He was asking for a judgement of himself and he wanted to know what he had done wrong. That is a good thing and we should search ourselves where we can't see before we look around where it is easier to look first! I believe Job felt he had nothing to worry about so he was really frustrated here with his friends making accusations about him and guessing why he may be going through this. I remember some of that going on in my life also and it was humiliating because they really didn't know me or my heart at all. As a matter of fact my heart was broken when people I had know for years said they couldn't help me because they would rather not get involved. Boy was that hard to take!
Yes, I understand how it feels. If you have experienced this in your life, you are not alone! I and many others have walked in your shoes!
Not by choice, of course, but by other reasons we will learn about as we move on through this book. We will eventually learn just as Job did; the answer to his big question, "Why?".
Today I want you to realize this! It is not the things that others say that matter most; it is the still small voice of God that we here when we seek him that really matters. As continued searching the Bible alone in the woods that day, this realization became a reality that would change my life from that day forward! Job came to understand this as he pleaded with God for a reason for his troubles and you will too, if you continue to search for the answers from Gods Word!
Only one thing though!
I made the same mistake that Job made when I went searching for my answer and I'll share with you just exactly what that was next when you join me tomorrow to find out God's answer to my question, "why me?"
Let's pray,
My Jehovah El Roi, I ask you to open my eyes to your truth each day as I seek to understand the lessons I may learn from lifes exeriences. Help me to see clearly just how protected and blessed I am even in the toughest of situations! I choose not to depend on my own understanding but to trust in my Jehovah to be the lamp before my feet so that I will not stumble and the light before my path so that I will not loose my direction. Thank you for your promises to never leave us or forsake us! Amen.
Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Psalm 118:9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Names of God
EL ROI: "God of Seeing" Hagar in Gen. 16:13. The God Who opens our eyes.
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