The God Mugging
“You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; and You dissolve me in a storm.” Job 30:22 NASB
Dissolve – Ever heard the expression, “God is my co-pilot”? The truth is that God is the pilot and I am just along for the ride. That means sometimes He flies where I never want to go. I mean you have to be crazy to fly into a hurricane, but it often seems that the God we serve is crazy. He takes us right into the storm. At least He is unpredictable. And sometimes that means you and I get mugged.
The Hebrew word, mug, is used by Job to express his emotional upheaval in the face of God’s silence. Job says that he is dust and ashes. He cries out but God doesn’t answer. He feels as if God has abandoned him in cruel ways. Then Job says, “You lifted me up and blew me all over the place like the wind and You tossed me about like a man in a tornado. You mugged me when I least expected it.”
I used to think that if I didn’t pay much attention to God He wouldn’t pay much attention to me. I wanted to stay under the radar, just doing what came next in life, away from all the “spiritual” battles in high places. After all, why make a spectacle of myself and suddenly be noticed by God (and Satan). How much better to just stay clear of all that craziness! Then I read Job. Here’s a man, a righteous man, who is just minding his own business, not harming anyone, not showing off, just doing what life is all about—getting along. And God calls attention to the fine example of faithfulness! God points out Job to Satan. The rest is history. Job’s life comes apart. Job suffers for no apparent reason. Job is the victim of some hideous cosmic joke. Why would I ever want God to make an example of me? All kinds of bad things might happen if He really paid attention to my less-than-righteous life. “No, please Lord, look after the saints and the stars, but leave me alone. I have enough fear of You to know that if You really started pointing me out, I would be in for a godly mugging too.”
So how did that work out? Ever been there? Ever thought, “If I could just stay hidden from the omniscient eye in the sky”? Are you like Job, wondering why God decided to use you as an example of suffering, torment and tempest? God loved Job. So how do you explain what happened? How can a God who loves and cares for those who serve Him do such things? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Are we nothing more than puppets in the hands of a God who can bring any sort of disaster upon us just to see if we can take it? Are we so insignificant that God refuses to answer us when He is the one who causes our troubles? Is the mugger not responsible to the victim?
There are no easy answers! There is a side to the God relationship that seems quixotic. Oh, we have lots of theological explanations, but they really don’t suffice. There is something mysterious and terribly frightening about God. There is something dangerous about being righteous. There are questions here that have no answers. In the end, I serve a God that I really don’t know, a God who is the one true God, but just a little beyond my ability to understand. That’s a good thing since it prevents my God from ever becoming my invention. But it scares me too.
In the end, what I must have is trust, not so much in what God does but in who He is, because sometimes I just can’t understand the things that He does. Sometimes God seems to mug me up in a dark alley.
Topical Index: Job 30:22, mug, toss about, dissolve, Satan, evil
I know the people I talk to pretty much seem to have this idea that they want to ‘make sure’ of God. They want to KNOW that He will be there for them, no matter what. But I wonder how many times we wonder if He might want to make sure of us back? What if He needed to know where WE were coming from? What if we needed to know that, too! How would either side ascertain that?
Affliction. The #1 determinant of loyalty. Not only can it make clear to all sides whose colors are whose under fire; affliction has this curious property of driving us into His arms. Yes, I was mad at Him all those years, but at least I could see how much I needed Him! What if affliction was the shortcut? The single most ‘surefire’ way either He or we had? What if those who DON’T see it have a camel’s eye chance of getting into that Kingdom?
Something else curious about affliction. It seems to strike mostly those who are TRYING to love. Trying to actually achieve relationship. Almost as if the bullet-duckers had figured out that all they had to do to dodge that Finger was to look the other way; to NOT CARE. To stay on the other side of that street. To Help Themselves. Well, what if it appeared that those were the ones that God DID ‘help’? DID avoid trouble? Do you know how many times I saw those around me choose to take the easy road when it came to caring about those who were in desperate need of it? How easy it was to blink the eye, to cover butt, to pass the buck, and how smooth their lives kept on being? How many times, in my ditch where I was desperate for the precious people tanking in my world (forget me!), I would look up and see yet one more look the other way, and just sail on. Well, no trouble for them! it was sure an eye-opening place, I thought to myself so many times! I wonder if other Eyes are open too, to see who will cross over and ‘help’ themselves voluntarily to a little sharing of affliction to Another Brother In Bonds? I wonder if the real meaning of ‘afflict yourselves’ has more to do with reaching out and touching those upon whom need has fallen, and less about hitting themselves in the face with a board (ok, I know it may be bad, but, unfortunately, Monty Python and the Search For The Holy Grail has done what I think may be the single best depiction of this wrong application!), I know that even Heaven had to reach out for me before It achieved affliction! Just sayin’….
Good word.
Remember that the first word YHVH uses to describe himself in Exodus 34:6 is the Hebrew word for compassion. I find that if we drift away from the intensity of the relationship YHVH wants, compassion for others is the first thing to go.
I also find that the other test is what we do when we have plenty, when we have the opportunity to not require God’s direct assistance.
Don’t forget The Life of Brian: Blessed are the cheesemakers… 🙂
“In the end, I serve a God that I really don’t know, a God who is the one true God, but just a little beyond my ability to understand. That’s a good thing since it prevents my God from ever becoming my invention. ”
Yeah — it scares me, too. When I had God all wrapped up in my box of Christian doctrines, I could rest easy. I knew how He would act and I could blame everything that didn’t fit my presumptions on the devil. I wonder if the same thing didn’t happen to Job? Did the leading doctrine of his day allow him to think he understood God and could predict Him? Were his trials the great awakening? Time to reread Job with a different mindset.
Lol! The more I read this site, the more I realize how little I know and understand of God. I’m still learning to be okay with that and just trust Him. I’ve heard it said that how we view God is the most important thing in life because it impacts how we act and think. I do think that’s true in a lot of ways. Ultimately, though I have to trust Him and I have to wait for Him to reveal Himself to me. That’s kind of hard for a girl who likes answers and ducks in rows. 🙂 I wonder if it’s too bold to ask for God to show me more of Him, like Moshe. (Sorry for any weird typos. I’m using my phone to type.)
Since we are all subject to self-delusion, how does a person know when trouble or undesired circumstances are the result of YHVH’s hand or personal choices?
As an illustration: a person says they want to be married but isn’t. Is that because God has personally blocked that or because of personal issues the man or woman has that negatively influence that happening?
A person says they want financial freedom. God or choices?
God or choices? As long as your heart is pointed in the right direction, God will make sure the particular trial gets used for holiness, even if you’ve chosen to point your feet in the wrong direction for a momentary detour. I put a lot of stock in the promise in Romans 8:28.
The book of Yob is a good demonstration that it is always YHWH’s hand. Note that Yob’s actions had no effect… He needed a paradigm shift in his heart.
Yob was righteous but he was scared so YHWH demonstrated to the Divine Court (which includes HaSatan) how he utilises evil to kick (promote) Yob’s butt into holiness (being able to “see” the Creator).
1:6&9
… offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all. For Yob said, It may be, that my sons have sinned, and blasphemed Elohim in their hearts. Thus did Yob continually. …
YHWH said unto HaSatan: Have you considered My servant Yob, that there is none like him in the earth—
a wholehearted and an upright man; one that fears Elohim, and shuns evil?
42:1 – 11
Then Yob answered YHWH and said,… Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not… I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You! … I abhor my words, and repent, seeing I am dust and ashes. …YHWH said to Elifaz the Temanite: My wrath is kindled against you, … go to My servant Yob, … and My servant Yob shall pray for you. For him will I accept, that I do not unto you aught, unseemly: for you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as my servant Yob has. …And YHWH changed the fortune of Yob when he prayed for his friends: and YHWH gave Yob twice as much as he had before.Then came there unto him all his brothers, and all his sisters, …and they bemoaned him, and comforted him, concerning all the evil that YHWH had brought upon him. …
Let us pray for a swift visit from God’s evil whenever it is necessary. Evil can result in repentance and promotion as in Yob’s case. Death is unseemly and permanent.
PERIOD.
~ For the LORD IS* [always] good… ~ (Psalm 100.5)
God is great. Yes, I too, “see the stars..- and hear the rolling thunder!..,” but greater than this, (so much greater!) -so much more wonderful.. – far more *weighty, – (the LORD our) God is GOOD.
We may say, (from our viewpoint), “life isn’t fair!” or worse yet, we might even be so brazen as to say, LORD, YOU are not “fair!” Oh, what a sense of justice we possess!! lol! (NOT).
I’ll ask the question, and with wonder and amazement and I’ll wait anxiously for an answer!
Friend, “Fair according to who?” According to me? Not hardly! I am so glad “His thoughts are NOT my thoughts neither are His ways- my ways!!” I would be far worse than “American Sniper” ever thought of being, eliminating, destroying and reducing to ash, “piles of people,” – *I thought needed to be eliminated or eradicated! I don’t like the color of your eyes.. ZAP!!
Oh friends, it is WAY past time to thank God for His incredible patience with all of us! His tender mercies are new every morning and Oh!, how I have learned! “The LORD IS [always] good!
Are you listening? Do I have your full and undivided attention?
~ in faithfulness, You have afflicted me.. ~ (Psalm 119.75)
David, (a man after God’s own heart) had learned something.. Something, we too, need to know!! Some things we can not know until.. Until we (too) experience this for our own selves, “It is GOOD for me to be afflicted!!” Hang with me, -don’t abandon ship just yet!!
“If”God is purposeful in all that He does.. (and yes, He is..- for our Sovereign King does nothing “randomly..”) then why am I (now) suffering? Is there (sumdumguy inquired) a purpose in suffering? And the answer is? Yes, oh yes.. – there is..
The Rest of the Story?? It WAS good for me to be afflicted… [Why?] – in order that I might learn..
The best lessons in life (and the ones we remember!) – are those that are “accompanied” by.. “pain and suffering..” The Truth often.. “ouch!”
We are learning creatures. We learn from our blunders, our errors, our falls, our scrapes, our scars, our wounds.. Either A) “don’t do that!” or B) “Yes, do that!” – and we also learn a very (big dot deal) wonderful lesson- “God don’t play!” Do NOT dabble with sin!! and? – “whatever He tells you, – DO IT!!”
Have I learned (anything) from yesterday’s foolishness? I certainly do hope so! – I’d hate to have to go through THAT again!
Having now learned to (what?) “pay attention!!” to “listen!!” (to listen intently!) Life is now sweet! For the scripture, (the Word of God) says.. “AFTER you have suffered awhile..”
Yes, I see it.. – (Hallelujah! -there it is!) – What a glorious word, a word that gives me great hope and confident assurance.. “AFTER!!” There IS an “after!!!” There is a “before” and there is also an “after!!”
Behold, the child. “Before” chastening – and “After” chastening!! Notice any change in attitudes or behavior? Amen and amen!!!
Whom the LORD loves, He [what??] – chastens!!! – [and- “you must be this tall to ride this ride!!”] He scourges every son whom He receives!!! -All this.. for the purpose of??
that I [too] might learn.. “the fining pot for silver and the furnace for gold!”
“Lo, I AM with you.. – ALWAYS!!”
He will give me grace and glory,
And go with me, with me all the way.
– For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well. (Mark 7.37)
Dissolved.., – now part of a Solution.
Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die!
Would He devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done,
He groaned upon the Tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And Love beyond degree!
Well, might the sun in darkness hide,
and shut its glories in,
when God, the mighty Maker, died
for His own creature’s sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
while His dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
and melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of tears can ne’er repay
the debt of love I owe.
Here, LORD, I give myself away;
’tis all that I can do.
Our God is not afraid of suffering, pain and death. Yeshua’s example shows this. By rebuking the religious leaders, he allowed hatred against himself to grow. Fully aware that this would result in pain, suffering and death, he still continued to rebuke the taskmasters of the day, and defend the innocent. But we, on the other hand, will do almost anything to avoid pain and suffering. We may even avoid the sight of others suffering, it reminds us too much of our own vulnerability. I wonder whether my attempt to avoid pain is the “entanglement” (thinking of yesterday’s post) that I have. Living with stage four cancer, I alternate between seeking distractions, and a strong desire to follow my Creator for as long as I have. Following God may mean pain, suffering and death. God is not afraid, but somedays I am. Other days I trust that he will be there during, and after death.
Now I don’t believe that God is the cause of of my cancer. Yet he allows it. The cause, as it appears to me, is mankind. Greed has created thousands of toxic compounds that are now in our everyday environment, our food, water and air. And man’s solution to treating cancer? We use the strongest, most toxic treatments we can find, putting our immune systems at an all time low. Illogical, to say the least! But thinking this way, how much time do you think I might spend researching and avoiding toxics? Am I driven by fear? When I look at myself, I find it disturbing! No wonder I prefer distractions. Peace is a gift from God, and I need it! And that is an understatement!
Lisa, thank you or being so open with your affliction and your fears and doubts. I’m praying for you the YHWH will truly reveal Himself too you in all that your up against. I can’t (and don’t ) want to imagine the battle your in and I know whatever we say will probably be far short of insufficient. So all we can do is pray and encourage you and one another. YHWH (truly) bless you and keep you, and his peace come to you and remain.
Precious Lisa Thomas, My husband of 61 years when he departed this life in 2013, and I lived in Houston for 26 years. M.D. Anderson one of the world’s largest cancer centers in the world is there. We were often called on as Lay Ministers to help there; and my own sister-in-law at age 36 with three young boys was diagnosed with cancer of the breast and over five years the cancer had consumed her body. With a past lifestyle that was lacking in a lot of areas although she graduated from a Christian College, she had married a man because she was pregnant with his child. His background was totally unstable, yet he was buried in electronics and he did make a living. But three years before her death; he abandon. her and the boys. We had plenty of children of our own and I was teaching school, and my husband was consumed with his College Athletic Programs. We did what we could to bring her & the children care. M.D. Anderson was the hospital we used, and I know what you are speaking about the treatments-experiments using tax payers money .
HOWEVER; I MUST WRITE WHAT I HAVE SEEN WITH MY EYES MORE THAN ONCE, AND LIFT YOU UP WITH HOPE AND NOT DESPAIR.
So what I want to focus on is that the Heavenly Father used personal ministry to my husband’s youngest sister through His Word. HE PROMISES THAT HE WILL NOT LEAVE US ALONE. TURN YOUR FACE TOWARD HIM AND SEEK HIS FACE IN HIS WORD. PLEASE LOOK TO THE SCRIPTURES THAT YESHUA, & PAUL, NEW TESTAMENT, WHO ARE FAR MORE CURRENT IN DATE AND ISSUES RELATED FOR TODAY THAN JOB. IT SEEMS I RECALL Job WAS THE FIRST RECORDED BOOK IN THE O.T. ( I am not checking that out tonight as I am nearly asleep–another whirlwind of a day!)
GOD’S PRESENCE SO INUNDATED ALL OF US AT THE TIME OF Kathy’s DEATH THAT IT IS NEARLY UNSPEAKABLE OF THE GLORY THAT CAME TO US. WE WERE FLOODED WITH HIS PEACE, YES, truly, THE PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING. And many other things that I will not write about here,
PLEASE FIND THE VERSES ON HIS PEACE AND READ THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN AND ASK FOR THEM TO BE REAL TO YOU; HE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU WHEN THE TIME COMES FOR YOU TO WALK THROUGH THAT VALLEY OF SHADOW OF DEATH. AS WE WILL ALL DO SOONER OR LATER. DEATH IS THAT FINAL BATTLE, BUT PRAYERS FROM THE WORD, ANOINTED WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT, WILL GIVE ALL OF US HIS PEACE AND SO MUCH MORE. Sleep Peaceful tonight WITH JOY & great HOPE. LaVaye Billings ( The lighting in my house at night, and eyes cause the change of the capital and little letters–hope it does not bother you very much)
Lisa – I don’t know how you are receiving treatment, but thought I would direct you to the website
http://health-parameters.com/
I hope you find it useful or encouraging.
Oh, and at the website, search the name “Bob Beck” to find what she writes about him.
Lisa Thomas,
Shalom to you and yours.
The journey with my first wife is one I would have never chosen, but it is one I would not trade for anything. This is the grand tension of our living journeys with YHWH and one another. I can testify with LaVaye Billings of the incredible peace we experienced of YHWH in Yeshua. Toward the end of my wife’s fight with stage four cancer, people would come in to minister to her/us and would be greatly moved by the peace of the King.
It was an incredible time of intimacy with Yeshua, my wife, and others. At the same time, it was the greatest battle.
Praying you will experience the encompassing peace of Yeshua! May you find the strength to embrace your journey, and come to peace with yourself and others.
YHWH is King!
Shalom shalom, Lisa.
Theresa Truran in her comment above has some herbal/plant solutions I firmly believe in too, rather than the “medication” prescribed by ‘medical professionals’ that are not only toxic with heaps of side effects, but actually kills patients. Some examples are fresh lemon grass bashed and cut, steeped as in tea and drunk throughout the day, same as with fresh grated ginger, and fresh turmeric. And eating well to supply the body with ammunition to fight.
ABBA is with you! Lean upon Him.
I definitely believe in the health promoting herbs that God has created for our benefit. I have tried many, and some are now part of my daily diet. After I learnt that I had stage two cancer, when I was diagnosed, I refused medical treatment, and researched and applied natural ways of healing, surrounding myself with support and prayers from loved ones. Even so, I went to stage four in 1 1/2 years (approximately). While very sick, in the hospital, given the opinion from a doctor there, that I had three weeks to live, I agreed to chemotherapy. I responded well to chemo with few side effects. I believe that I did so well, partly because of supplements that I was taking that boosted the immune system, and partly because of the love and prayers of so many. I have emailed Theresa, and looking forward to her response. If our Creator intends me to live and suffer longer, so I will! I say that with a smile.
I thank all of you for your kindness and compassion. And when you suffer, as we all must, may God’s love surround you. I am so happy some of you have already experienced that in a time of deep need. It is encouraging.
We stand by you in love and in our prayers, you are an overcomer.
Blessings, and shalom!
Hi Lisa,
I just want you to know you have been in my thoughts and prayers.
Shalom,
Tonya
Perhaps the book of Job teaches us the starting point of our relationship with God. Man can never know God in any degree unless God takes the initiative to show Himself. God is a loving, terrifying, merciful, just and a thousand other adjectives. God is also far above any description humans can come up with. Probably far beyond what words can ever describe. How do we relate to such a One except to totally subject ourselves to Him no matter what he does or allows knowing that the ends will new what He will have it to be
Sin and rebellion will be completely done away with forever, and it is a necessarily hideous remedy our loving Father must use. But all things will be summed up in Him one day. We are not permitted to know gods ways as Job was not. But Job finally recognized the futility of trying to understand God and finally admitted that he knew nothing unless God revealed Himself. For Job, knowledge of Gods ways finally took the back seat to trusting God completely and that is a very difficult place to get to. But God must bring each one to this place before true fellowship with Him is possible.
Are we certain that when God says, “Have you considered my servant Job…” that he is actually pointing Job out to Satan? It seems to me there is another way it could be read and understood (at least in English). Could it also be that God knows that Satan has ALREADY noticed Job, and he is pointing it out? Does the Hebrew give any additional insight into this?
The verb, sim, means 1) to put in place, 2) to appoint, 3) to assign, 4) to establish a new relationship, 5) to bring about a change, 6) to set aside for a special purpose. (see TWOT #2243). The strength of the verb indicates that until attention is drawn to the object, it remains unnoticed.
Skip, I like how you used the Hebrew word “mug” in a play on words. Catchy!
First of all – Lisa, I’ll be praying for you..strength, encouragement, deep intimacy with the One who loves you most and life.
Second – We also read, when Job finally released himself into the whirlwind, he managed to speak, “…I spoke, without understanding..of wonders far beyond me, which I didn’t know….I had heard ABOUT You with my ears, but NOW my eyes SEE you; therefore I detest myself and repent in dust and ashes.” After watching the following video link, I also repent in broken humility.
http://www.sat7uk.org/announcements/brother-of-egyptian-christians-murdered-by-islamic-state-prays-for-killers-live-on-sat-7
During my first wife’s battle and passing away from an aggressive and cancerous brain tumor, I found much comfort (but it did not make me comfortable) in the story of Job’s suffering and vindication. Job’s friends had a lot to say about why he was suffering! Job had a lot to say in rebuttal to his friends! Then YHWH shows up and speaks!! YHWH does not say a word about why Job is suffering . . . we should ponder this long and deeply. May I suggest that YHWH is more interested in how we reach out and bring shalom to the suffering than understanding the WHY of suffering. And how we bring shalom will be unique to the individuals and situations.
On the other hand, this is a story of a righteous man’s suffering and vindication. We all have walked under the weight and consequences of our own sin and the sins of others. We are very aware why we are suffering. Job is a man walking out the Torah of YHWH, yet he suffers great loss! I remember reading a few years ago that the book of Job was a rebuttal to ancient Israel concerning their belief that suffering is always the result of sins. We see this brought out in the diatribes of Job’s three friends and Job’s vehement disagreement with the idea!
The story of Job is one I have read much in my walk with YHWH. I find great succor in YHWH’s initiating the suffering in Job’s life. I also see a wise and merciful YHWH who reveals Himself to Job as Creator and Sovereign. Job’s story does not fit into our neat little boxes of theology of who we think YHWH is and should be to us. It is a story of great pain and wrestling with why the righteous suffer. It is not the WHY of suffering that is important, it is the ONE who meets us in our suffering . . . this is our salvation and comfort.
Just cleaning up my desk – and I find a passage from II Samuel 24:24, spoken by David (who knew God fairly well in a variety of situations) while Israel was in crisis. The threshing floor owner wanted to give David oxen to sacrifice..but David wouldn’t hear of it. “No-I refuse to offer to Adonai my God, burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” That brings me to Skip’s thought above: “In the end, what I must have is trust, not so much in what God does but in who He is.” And who IS He? He gave us the Sacrifice of all sacrifices and trumps anything found on this battlefield we live on….the Blood of Jesus. Who are You – Holy and Wonderful God – that You could love us……so much? David’s heartfelt integrity should echo in our lives as well – You, God – have given us everything…how could we possibly give You less then something that costs us as well? Give me the strength to give.
I think the thing that stands out most to me is how God knew Job was missing something big. It may seem as though God is capricious and cruel in how he allows Satan to take away wealth, family and health – seemingly every good thing from Job. Those things would seem to be true about God through eyes that get caught up in this world. But what it comes down to is the reality that many rarely, if ever, notice or really sit and ponder. When you peel back this fleeting walk we’re on that we call “our lives” there remains only eternity with God. In the very midst of this walk – eternity with God is the sole truth. Really seeing God – that’s where the book of Job shines. God showed a living picture of paring it all back to one thing – Himself. The ONE! God is committed to Job in a way I think many people miss altogether. Not just committed to Job in his worldly life, but committed in ways that have eternal ramifications to exactly WHO Job sees God as and who he sees himself as in his earthly life and eternal relationship. The limited vision we have with regards to our lives, what they really are – I’m not sure if “entitlement sickness” or “worldly eyes” describe it better. I know Jesus died to completely free us of it. We do not understand clearly how completely trustworthy God is because we’re caught up in our vision – not His. When we see Him, things become very clear – we see our puny, ridiculous self and our outrageous mind sets, agendas and motives for what they really are – and we are knocked to our face, struck by His astonishing greatness!. We understand more and more how different things really are and, again, we materially change. Our idea of good can be so warped at times that we cannot fathom how ludicrous it is. God is completely committed to us and who He’s made us to be. Oneness with Him – wow, though it completely boggles me, I never get tired of thinking on that.
Ultimately, God brought Job through everything. He remained committed to him. Job materially changed through direct encounter with God! He says, “My ears HAD HEARD OF you, but now my eyes HAVE SEEN you.” Job peeked at things too wonderful to know about God. To know such things perhaps it takes overwhelming circumstances to put us in the place to properly receive it.
Love your article, Skip.
Hi December,
Agreed, it’s in the eyes. Paul wrote about “the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened”.
Having been enlightened, he also wrote: “we do not look at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are unseen. For the things which
are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
When I look into the mirror of the Word at YHVH, others, myself and my world, might what i’m seeing be warped? Those who tell me they see clearly are not so convincing anymore. A weekly visit to the beach doesn’t mean I understand and can predict the ocean’s activity. Those living on the ocean know it is unpredictable. I actually find what Skip wrote here is more realistic. “What now” seems a better question than “why” Lisa, I have studied how plants extracts can help. My email is ttruran@comcast.net if you feel led. I pray your inner soul will be flooded with grace and you will find beauty for your senses.
“Are we so insignificant that God refuses to answer us when He is the one who causes our troubles?” Definitely not!
YHWH certainly knows us better than we know ourselves, and He mercifully reveals our lack to us, perhaps through the sufferings we go through, but He knows Job well enough that he is a righteous man. And HE is watching for Job’s responses and reactions to the situation that he was placed into.
And, Job did well! Thus, the restoration and high acknowledgment that YHWH was well pleased with him.