On Supporting Roles

Scripture: So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified himself rather than God. Job 32:1-2

Observation: Elihu, a young man who is about to make the final accusations against Job, is angry over both Job's defense and the other friends logic. However, he is about to be the only person who is going to reconcile everything in the context of God. His frustration is summarized in this ... Job has lamented his situation simply by attempting to justify himself as "good" before God, and the friends have accused Job simply by attempting to find the mysterious "issue" in Job's life that has required punishment.

Both of these positions are wrong, as they require the person (Job) to be the central figure in the situation. Instead, God is the central figure. The hardships in Job's life, therefore, have nothing to do with him - neither with his own good and righteous behavior as he would claim, nor with any sin as his friends would claim. This is evident from chapter 1 of the book ... everything that happens is about God and how he is interacting with the world in order to bring about his own plan and purposes.

That is not to say God struck down Job for his own pleasure, or through some random act. Rather, it is to say that, whatever human discussion is to take place about the situation, the conversation should be about God as the controller and creator and his purposes, not about human actions and how the justify either divine reward or earthly punishment.

Application: When I see myself as the central figure in my life - something we all do by nature - I am missing the point. The events in my life are about God's world, love, and nature, with which I am free to interact. Looking internal for the ability to alter outcomes, reconcile results, or examine cause and effect is ... wrong.

Job and his three elder friends looked at Job's situation, and spent ~29 chapters debating Job's causality of that situation, and/or Job's pious actions that should have warranted better. They lost site of God. Perhaps they did this because it is hard to look for a loving God in the midst of death and hardship. Perhaps they did it because they have a fixed idea of right and wrong. Certainly they did it because they lost sight of God and faith in his elevated authority, understanding, and objectives.

This is a fact I must not lose sight of. God is on his throne, and he is in control. I do not need to understand ... and even seeking an individual perspective to gain understanding may be wrong. This - realizing that I am NOT the protagonist in my own life - is perhaps the ultimate understanding of faith.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for allowing me to move through your story this day. May I do your will in dark places, knowing that in all things thy purposes will be done on earth. Amen.