Have you ever thought, "If there is a God in heaven he's doing an awfully poor job?"
Does you life even feel like a series of unfortunate events? I have felt that way lately financially. Everything seems to come at once. A new transmission $2400, class fees $480, the after school care bill $200. It just keeps piling up it seems. But the bank account doesn't have the same influx so we get further behind. So we say OK up there in the sky, mister God of the universe how about a little help here.
I'm reminded of the movie Bruce Almighty, a great film by the way. Jim Carey's character Bruce seems to have everything going wrong in his goals, dreams, and life in general. So he calls God a sadistic kid with a magnifying glass and tells God to leave him alone. Well God shows up and gives Bruce his powers for a few days. Bruce fixes a few things for himself, new car, better job, a little revenge. It seems he has taken care of things pretty well in his own life.
But then his world view gets expanded and he sees the mess made in the lives of those around the world due to some of the consequences of his own actions. He cries out to God in the end admitting he can't do it. He can't do what needs to be done, even with the power of God he can't be God.
In Job 39-40 God challenges Job with two huge creatures the Behemoth and Leviathan asking Job if he can contain or control them. God sets it up in the beginning of chapter 39 by asking Job if he can put on his splendor and majesty speak with the thunder and lighting, bring all the proud men low and lay all the wicked in their graves. Then and only then would God admit Job's own effort could save him.
Sometimes we think, if I just had a little more money, power, influence, I could really change things around here. I could set my life strait if I just had a bit more self control and could meet my goals I could remove the suffering and sorrow from my life and the life of my family.
They problem is, unless we have the power to get rid of all wickedness and selfish desire in the world, there will be no perfect justice, no easy life, no freedom from suffering or the occurrence of unfortunate events in our lives. I don't know about you, but I don't have the power to do it and even if I did, as Bruce almighty did, I don't think I would have the wisdom to know how to use it.
This is getting to the heart of the book of Job. This story has very little to do with Job in the end and much more to do with understanding the sovereignty of God in the midst of the limits of humanity. I am glad I'm not God! I am also glad I am not given the responsibility to save myself or the rest of the world. I would much rather it rest on the shoulders of the one who made it all and has both the power and wisdom to know what to do with it all.
May we recognize our limitations today and rejoice in the limitless God who has a much better viewpoint of what is going on in each of our lives individually and collectively.
No comments:
Post a Comment