The Big Picture - Job 38:1-18

Introduction

Megan recently got me locked in on a new show, and, to be honest, I’m a little embarrassed to tell you what it is. Honestly, over the last 20 years, Megan has been so gracious as to let me choose most of the shows that we’ve watched together. It’s probably because she knows she’s going to sleep through most of them. But, recently, she chose our new show, and she got me locked in on Virgin River. I’m not proud of it. And, last week, we get down to the last episode of season one, and by this time, you feel like you know these people. Spoiler Alert: the last episode ends with two of the main characters being threatened — one of them by an abusive spouse and the other by a drug addict that has broken through. Crazy as it is, I could feel my heart pounding. Like, I’m nervous for these people. And then, I realize — there’s a second season. Obviously things have to turn out okay. Obviously, there’s going to be more to this story.

We’ve been walking through the Bible for a while now, and my goal has been so that you can realize that there’s a bigger story in play whenever you’re reading one passage or one story. The Lord has been at work in the big picture of providence to redeem his people and consummate the reign of his Son. And, sometimes, when we’re in the moment, when we’re in a moment of great difficulty or fear or challenge, it can be easy to lose sight that there’s something bigger in play. But, and I think this is so huge for the children of God, we always have the privilege, the hope of realizing that there’s a second season. There’s more to this story.

God’s Word

That’s how the ending to Job helps us to frame up our suffering. In the midst of suffering, when you’ve experienced loss, grief, and disappointment, it’s natural to become so consumed with the suffering that you lose sight of the bigger picture. So, through Job, God invites us to zoom out so that we can see his assurances to his people when they find themselves on what appears to be the losing side of this disordered world. Assurances for the Suffering People of God: (Headline)

The story is “bigger” than you “see.”

Job 38:1-4 “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.”

You and I have been raised in an era in which we believe that we should have the answers to every question we have. The scientific worldview handed down to us by the enlightenment has emboldened us to believe that it’s both our right and our responsibility to know what’s happening in our lives and why it’s happening. Of course, the trouble comes is that there are many questions that we face that the scientific method can’t answer. Why does one woman experience a series of tragedies in her life resulting in the loss of her whole family and another grow old with her husband and children? The scientific method can’t resolve it. Questions have been on Job’s lips from the beginning, and now, finally God speaks. And, with our scientific background, with our love for the specifics, we expect that Job’s questions to finally be answered. But, God’s response shows that we need new eyes, not more answers. Look at the shifts in perspective God calls for in Job.

You’re not “alone.”

Isn’t it interesting that it says that God answers Job “out of the whirlwind?” Job is in the greatest storm in his life, and a whirlwind — as we well know in Alabama — is the most intense time of a storm. Yet, it’s in this storm and through this storm that God speaks to Job most clearly. For 38 chapters, Job has suffered loss and suffering and frustration. He’s looked for God but didn’t see him. He’s listened for God but didn’t hear him. And, suddenly, in the intensest moment of the storm, He speaks so that Job can know that he hasn’t left the oversight of God. That is, God speaks not because He has to. God doesn’t have to do anything. God speaks so that Job can know that He isn’t alone and He hasn’t been alone. The silence of God doesn’t mean the absence of God. In fact, there’s a shift in the name of God being used that’s significant. Throughout the discourse with his friends, the name of God used most often is El’ Shaddai, which is a way of saying “the Almighty.” For the friends, their view of God has been one that seems distant and fearsome, one who swings a big hammer and is waiting to catch you. But, here, in the midst of the greatest intensity in the storm, it’s “the LORD”, it’s “YHWH” who answers Job. It’s the covenant-making, relationship-forming, all-in, loving name of God for his people. God is better than Job’s friends said He was and better than Job fears He is. He’s inviting Job to lift his eyes from his loneliness and to remember the relationship that He has.

Suffering makes you feel alone, doesn’t it? It makes you feel isolated and abandoned. It can make God seem distant and cruel. But, our crucified Savior reminds us to remember the relationship. There’s more to the story than we can see right now.

You’re not “God.”

God doesn’t respond to Job’s answers the way you would expect though. Job wants God to pull out a flowchart that shows the reason for the pain he’s experienced. Instead, God answers Job’s questions with even bigger questions. Questions that change his perspective so that he can interpret the details of our lives and our suffering differently. “Where were you when the footing was poured for the universe? Do you know how the seas stay full or how to make them stop where they must? Are you the one that determined the dimensions of the galaxies?” The issue was that of “understanding.” Job was the wisest of the wise men; yet, the wisdom of God still far transcended him. God has his secrets, and He must. For if you fully understand and comprehend the ways of God and the mysteries of God, then you haven’t really gotten to know him yet.

But, there’s good news for those of us who suffer in ways greater than we can understand: we’re not God, and our hope is not tethered to our understanding. Your wellbeing is not bound to your wisdom. It’s not just that you don’t know everything; it’s that you can’t know everything. But, what you can do is trust that there is One is for you, One is who is wise, One who does know these answers. You can trust that the story is bigger than you can see. So, you don’t have to force it. You don’t have to fix it. You just have to keep hoping, keep trusting.

You’re not “insignificant.”

Job 38:39-39:4 ““Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food? “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does? Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young? Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open; they go out and do not return to them.”

It would be easy to hear God’s speech to Job and to think that God is demeaning Job or that He’s delegitimizing his suffering. But, that’s not what’s happening at all. In fact, God is saying the opposite. Job’s hope is not found in his ability to understand what’s happening to him. It’s too big for him to understand. Job’s hope is found in the fact that He is known and cared for by the One who does know the answers. God never says that Job hasn’t suffered greatly. Instead, God says, “Trust my care.” Notice at the end of 38 and 39 how He describes his wisdom to Job. “You think lions are mighty and fearsome? Who do you think makes sure they have prey to hunt?” The strongest are dependent upon me. And, “what about the mountain goats? Do you ever think about them, Job? They are in the forgotten, remote places of the world; yet, I know how many are born and sustain them across the generations!” Do you hear what He’s saying? As great as God is, He isn’t distant. God’s wisdom and God’s care includes those others forget — like Job, like you.

(Show picture of rose-veiled fairy wrasse) This is a rose-veiled fairy wrasse. Its colors are brilliant, aren’t they? Think of all of the details that come to make this fish just as it is. Everyone of them singing of the creative genius and artistic brilliance of God. He’s handcrafted everyone. Now, here’s why I’m showing you this: This fish wasn’t discovered until March of this year. Think about that. Thousands upon thousands of years of humans documenting the existence of creatures, and we just found this one this year. That is, God made the rose-veiled fairy wrasse in secret so that no one else knew, and He sustained it all these years as a demonstration of his brilliance. In fact, the Smithsonian institute says that there are, on average, around 18,000 new species discovered every year. All of them made by God, known by God, and sustained by God — even though we didn’t know about a single one. And, the invitation to Job and the invitation to us is to trust that if God takes care of the rose-veiled fairy wrasse in the darkest, most remote parts of the oceans, then He can be trusted with our lives too. We’re not too insignificant for his care. He’s writing a bigger story.

The plan is “better” than you “realize.”

Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.””

Now, you’ll remember what Job has said. He had poked his chest out and told his friends that he was going to question God to his face. In Job’s response, he’s confronted with the foolishness of those words. God had given him new eyes with a new perspective so that he might ultimately have a new heart. That is, Job doesn’t see God as demeaning him or minimizing his suffering; instead, he sees God as magnifying his glory and showing him his greatness so that Job might realize that the plan is better than Job could ever realize. Job makes three different realizations of God’s goodness:

God’s purposes are “unstoppable.”

Job has listened to God and realized that God’s purposes and God’s plans are unstoppable. God is too great to be taken off course by me or by you. God’s wisdom is too complex for him to seek us as advisers. And, our attempts to resolve every tension by oversteering and micromanaging our lives only brings violence to our own hearts.

God’s purposes are “wonderful.”

But, the unstoppability of God is good news for the children of God. This is what Job realizes. See the progression of thought in Job’s mind. You’ll notice that he quotes what God has said to himself and then shows what he’s realized from it. Yes, God is unstoppable, but God is wonderful so Job is glad that he can’t stop him. Think of that. Job says, “I would’ve written my plan differently, but the plan God has written is far more wonderful.” Now, at this point, what has changed about Job’s circumstances? Nothing! He’s still without his health, wealth, family, or reputation. The difference now is that He’s seen the greatness of God in the midst of it. He’s not more satisfied with his life; he’s more satisfied with God himself. Suffering isn’t “wonderful”, but God’s purposes are.

What we’re witnessing here is worship. “Wonderful” here is the same word David uses in Psalm 26 when he says: I’m “proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.” These are words of amazement. It’s the same word that Joshua uses in chapter 3 just before Israel marches across the Jordan to watch the walls of Jericho fall down: “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do ‘wonders’ among you.” Job realizes that the deepest worship takes place in the darkest valley. The searing pain of loss amplifies the tender care of God. God’s purposes are often painful. God’s purposes are always unstoppable. But, God’s purposes are ultimately wonderful. Do you believe that?

God’s purposes are “eye-opening.”

You see, God plans and purposes to be really known by his people. To be known in the Bible is different than the way we use known. It means an intimate knowledge. It’s to feel the warmth of someone else’s body up against yours when you’re cold. It’s the ability to pick out the voice of your dad in the middle of the crowd so that you know you’re still safe. It’s the companionship of your wife beside your hospital bed letting you know that you’ll never suffer alone. It’s to say what Job says of the LORD: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, BUT NOW my eyes see you.” Now, I really know you. The knowledge of God is more valuable than a comfortable life. That’s what God’s people must believe. That’s the kind of driving passion that will take you to the mission field. That’s the kind of passion that will show your children the truth. That’s the kind realization that will make you generous until it hurts. That’s the realization that will sustain you when your life falls apart.

What’s interesting is that Job then repents. The whole book everyone has been calling for Job to repent, but he didn’t because he hadn’t done anything wrong. But, here after hearing the wisdom of God and beholding the power of God and witnessing the goodness of God, he repents. That is, Job sees how wonderful God is, and God’s kindness draws him to repentance, as Paul says. Job is repenting, not because he hadn’t lived with integrity; Job is repenting because his view of God had been too small. It’s the kind of realization that you have when you’re at your lowest, and your wife sits beside your hospital bed and tenderly cares for you. You can offer nothing to her, but she’s a lifeline for you. You realize how you’ve taken her love for granted. You’ve realized that her love is far more powerful than you understood. And, you feel a sense of shame and sorrow that you haven’t loved her better. That’s the picture here. Irony: Suffering NEEDS a bigger view of God. Suffering GIVES a bigger view of God. Suffering brings the glory of God into living color so that you can see that he and his plan are better than you realized.

The future is “brighter” than your “past.”

Job 42:10-17 “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and …”

Job’s story ends the way our story will if we know God. It says that “the LORD restored” Job so that Job had more than he’d had to begin with. But, the point isn’t that you’re guaranteed in the here and now to receive double of anything you lose. The point is that Job’s hope and faith had been proven true. He said in Job 19:25 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” And, God redeemed him in a way more wonderful than He even hoped. God wasn’t just who Job thought He was; He was better. And so, what we see is that God will reward the righteous. There is a future coming when suffering will be turned to glory and where our redemption will be fully consummated so that we are without regret and our lives are without end. That’s the big picture. That’s the big story. The Gospel says that God gives his people new eyes and a new heart, and then ultimately, like Job, a new life. This isn’t all there is, and this isn’t as good as it gets. A brighter future lies ahead.