Job CCCXXX

 Job 39:13-18, “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s? For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust; she forgets that a foot may crush them, or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; her labor is in vain, without concern, because God deprived her of wisdom, and did not endow her with understanding. When she lifts herself on high, she scorns the horse and its rider.”

If you ever run across a Swiss timepiece, an Italian suit, or a German car, your rightful expectation is that they are impeccably crafted, made of the best materials, and as such highly sought after and coveted. When you drill down even further, you have the premier specialists in a general field that are sought after even more, especially when it comes to art, whether watercolor, oil paints, acrylics, or everything in between.

One’s reaction is different if they chance upon a long-lost Picasso than if they discovered a Roberto original, even though they were of the same generation, applied themselves, and put brush to canvas. Who’s Roberto? Exactly! No clue. I’m sure there was a guy named Roberto in the 1900s who tried just as hard as Pablo Picasso to create masterpieces on canvas, but while one succeeded, the other is long forgotten, with little to no value placed on his creations.

Who the artist is matters more than anything. There have been hand-etched pencil drawings on napkins that fetched more than all of the imaginary Roberto’s works put together, just because a specific artist signed them.

Everything we behold with our eyes and can touch with our fingers, whether the grass, the trees, or the ostrich, was created by the Master Craftsman, the Master Artist, and His signature is on it all, including mankind.

Granted, I wouldn’t go around trying to pet an ostrich; they tend to spit at people, but countless other animals lend themselves to being petted, if you are so inclined.

It’s not subtle. It’s not vague. God did not hide His fingerprints, nor was He working from the shadows. There is no uncertainty as to who created all that exists, because the Word makes it clear that it was God. Even the little things we can’t notice, the things that are not readily perceived, like the difference between how an ostrich and a stork flap their wings, were meticulously taken into account.

What we have in this monologue, which spans two chapters in the book of Job, is nothing less than the Artist explaining His work, His intention behind it, and the subtle brushstrokes that would have gone unnoticed by a cursory or superficial glance. We can either take God at His word and see creation through His eyes, as He explains it, or take the word of self-appointed critics who had no hand in creating the masterpiece that is the world that surrounds us, as they try to blunder their way through attempting to convince us that it was all serendipity, a happy accident that brought everything together and knitted it perfectly.

If you’ve ever seen a critic try to explain a work of art, then later chance upon an interview with the artist explaining his motivation and what his art means, you’ve likely concluded that critics are full of hot air, unanimously self-important and self-aggrandizing, and most often less intelligent than they think themselves to be.

While the critic can go on for an hour explaining how the painting of a man sitting in a rowboat adrift on a lake has profound undercurrents of desperation, and speaks to the soul’s endless search for meaning, when asked what the piece means to him, the artist will likely say that he was walking by a lake one day, saw a man sitting in a boat, and thought it would make for a good painting.

Perhaps there is no deeper meaning as to why the ostrich and the stork flap their wings differently than that God spoke them both into existence, and saw that it was good.

Yes, there are mysteries; there are things worthy of contemplation and deep reflection, but not all things are mysteries. Why we tend to focus on the non-essentials and take the words of men regarding God over God’s words regarding Himself as viable and true is one of those issues that warrants consideration and contemplation.

God doesn’t stutter, nor does He attempt to shroud ignorance in a multitude of words. He is clear, direct, and has made His will known in His Word. No man living or dead can honestly say they don’t know what God wants of them after they’ve read His Word. They cannot plead ignorance or cast the blame at God’s feet for not being clear and forthright enough about His expectations of those who are His.

Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Ephesians 4:20-24, “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

That’s all well and good, but Aunt Midge insists I have to burn incense, stand on one foot, and repeat a secret prayer only she is privy to in order to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord. It seems as though God made the way straight and clear, but what if that is a red herring to deceive those unwilling to listen to Aunt Midge?

Stop overcomplicating your walk because someone insists you should. Worship God in spirit and in truth, put off the old man, present your body a living sacrifice, and know what it is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, walking humbly with your God, and feeling His presence in your life. He has shown you, O man, what is good; you just have to be willing to see it and follow through with action.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.