14 “Listen to this, O Job,
Stand and consider the wonders of God.
15 “Do you know how God establishes them,
And makes the [l]lightning of His cloud to shine?
16 “Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds,
The wonders of one perfect in knowledge,
17 You whose garments are hot,
When the land is still because of the south wind?
18 “Can you, with Him, spread out the skies,
Strong as a molten mirror?
19 “Teach us what we shall say to Him;
We cannot arrange our case because of darkness.
20 “Shall it be told Him that I would speak?
[m]Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?21 “Now [n]men do not see the light which is bright in the skies;
But the wind has passed and cleared them.
22 “Out of the north comes golden splendor;
Around God is awesome majesty.
23 “The Almighty—we cannot find Him;
He is exalted in power
And He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness.
24 “Therefore men fear Him;
He does not regard any who are wise of heart.”
Elihu does what many others have done when they ascribe greatness and majesty to God… He makes God unapproachable. To be fair, God himself told Moses, “you cannot see my face and live…” So yes, our human bodies are limited in how much of God they can handle. But Elihu is still a bit off base in verse 20 when he claims that God cannot be bothered to listen to us, or that we should not dare to speak to Him lest we be “swallowed up”.
Though Elihu did not have the benefit of the writings in the New Testament, we certainly do. Paul wrote that we should pray without ceasing, and why should we talk to God so much unless He were listening? Likewise, the writer of Hebrews tells us to “boldly approach” the throne of God.
So while God is holy and mighty and incomprehensible, and we would die if we saw Him this side of glory, God is not so lofty that He cares not for us. Indeed, the whole reason Job was in this mess was because God thought so much of him. And the reason many of us encounter trials in our lives is because of God’s unceasing work in our lives.
As Paul also wrote, “He who began a good work in you will perfect (complete) it until the day of Christ Jesus.” God is very much interested in your life, and He will not leave or abandon you. You are never alone, even in the darkest of times, God is still right there in the storm with you.