13 “God will not turn back His anger;
Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab.
14 “How then can I [h]answer Him,
And choose my words [i]before Him?
15 “For though I were right, I could not [j]answer;
I would have to implore the mercy of my judge.
16 “If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.
17 “For He bruises me with a tempest
And multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 “He will not allow me to get my breath,
But saturates me with bitterness.
19 “If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon [k]Him?
20 “Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;
Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.
21 “I am guiltless;
I do not take notice of myself;
I despise my life.
22 “It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’
23 “If the scourge kills suddenly,
He mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, then who is it?
Though Job seems lost in despair, he still knows one thing for sure, which is that God is in control. For Job, in the middle of this tragedy, that’s not very comforting, as he asks, “If it is not He, then who is it?” Yes, God was responsible for Job’s trouble, so who was Job going to turn to for help? Who would plead Job’s case before the Almighty?
The good news is that we are not without a mediator, for Jesus himself pleads our case. Don’t get too confused, Jesus is God, so you could say God is both judge and mediator. I won’t go into that here, as you can do some reading on the “trinity” and hopefully it’ll be clear as mud!
At any rate, Job brings something important to the surface. Though he claims to be “guiltless” that isn’t because he never sinned. It is because, by faith, Job offered the sacrifices which were the legal requirement to atone for sin. Yet as New Testament writers would later explain, it wasn’t the sacrifice or the law that ever justified anyone, it was faith. And that faith was brought to reality when Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice once and for all.
So we can forgive Job a bit if he didn’t know exactly what was going to happen in a couple thousand years. Yet Job’s trial was very real, and pain and anguish were his constant companions, so what of that? We also experience pain and heartache, and Jesus flat out told us that we would have troubles in this world. In the middle of our suffering, remembering that Jesus is on our side can be difficult. It can be downright discouraging to try and see clearly when storm clouds are all around.
Yet we must hold on to our faith in God, for He will bring us through every trial. Faith is what assures us that God is doing something even when we can’t see it. In the middle of every circumstance of life, Jesus himself is rooting for us, cheering us on, and even giving us the strength to push through to the other side. Hang on to Him, never give up, and keep moving forward, one step at a time.