Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man
9 Then Job [a]answered,
2 “In truth I know that this is so;
But how can a man be in the right [b]before God?
3 “If one wished to dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
4 “Wise in heart and mighty in strength,
Who has [c]defied Him [d]without harm?
5 “It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how,
When He overturns them in His anger;
6 Who shakes the earth out of its place,
And its pillars tremble;
7 Who commands the sun [e]not to shine,
And sets a seal upon the stars;
8 Who alone stretches out the heavens
And [f]tramples down the waves of the sea;
9 Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;
10 Who does great things, [g]unfathomable,
And wondrous works without number.
11 “Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
12 “Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
Job’s response addresses one of Bildad’s first remarks about a man being “pure and righteous” before God. And he’s right, no one is, and Paul would later write “there is none righteous, no not one!” So Bildad’s whole argument falls flat on it’s face. If no one can be righteous, and the only way to have God bless you is by being righteous…
Thus Job rightly gets to the root of the issue. If God wants to do something, no one can stop Him, and no one can say, “Well I’m perfect, so God better not touch me…” Likewise, no one can could win an argument with God because He knows and sees things that we cannot. And while it would be easy to dwell on the negative and just play the victim, Job doesn’t stop there. Instead, he continues with the great and unfathomable works that God has done.
So no, we aren’t perfect, and we can’t outsmart God, but the good news is that we don’t need to because He has our best interests in mind. Even His “wondrous works” like the sun, moon, and stars fill us with awe, but also inspire us to keep moving forward and learning and creating new things. God cares so much about every part of our lives, and everything He does has a purpose.
When you’re feeling down in the dumps, and you feel like things are spinning out of control, remember this: God is never out of control, and He has everything running according to His purpose for you. Look to Him for strength, and learn to focus on the good things even when you can’t see them through the storm clouds of life. Let God’s vision become yours and trust Him to work things together for your good.