Job XXXIV

It is unsettling to the mind of flesh to come to terms with the reality that not only does God choose how to respond to His creation, but also chooses when, within what context, and how clearly. Sometimes, God chooses to be silent. More often than not, it’s when He’s already given us clear direction, we didn’t like the directions we were given, and so return to Him with the same question hoping we’ll get a different answer. God didn’t stutter. He is neither double-minded nor duplicitous. He meant what He said, He said what He meant, and it’s incumbent upon us to obey. God’s not one for playing games, and usually, His answers are direct and forthright, without ambiguity or any wiggle room for our minds to interpret something other than what was intended.

When the Word of God says one thing, and men insist it says the opposite, it’s not that the Word itself is ambiguous. It’s that men are attempting to twist it into a pretzel to make it say something it clearly doesn’t. If you’re wondering why men would do such things, then you haven’t been paying attention. Life isn’t an oasis, a paradise, a safe place where we can while away the hours staring at our navels waiting on Christ’s return. It is a warzone rife with infiltrators, deceivers, betrayers, double-dealing faux brethren, and an enemy ever on the prowl.

If you’ve ever wondered how far the church has strayed from the gospel, take a verse deemed controversial by the modern-day church, read it to a six-year-old, and ask them what they think it means. You’re likely to get a more biblically accurate interpretation than you would from some of the clowns pretending to be shepherds who call evil good, darkness light, and bitter sweet.

Their aim is to sow confusion, doubt, and unbelief in the hearts of God’s children, to steer them from the way of truth into the murky shadows where personal opinion supersedes the word of God and where men become defacto gods, following their own way rather than God’s way.

There is purpose in God’s silence, just as there is purpose in God speaking. Especially when we are going through a trial, we would prefer He addresses us sooner rather than later, but our preferences, like our feelings, don’t enter the equation, contrary to what we may have been told by those trying to sell us a course on how to force God’s hand to do our bidding.

Job was not perturbed or deterred by God’s silence because his faith was well-established, and he knew the nature and character of the God he served. Here he sat, covered in boils, upon the ashes of his former life, scratching at himself with a potsherd, and his attitude was not one of self-pity or bitterness at having to endure something he’d concluded was undeserved.

When the knowledge of the God we serve has no depth, when we have not entered a relationship or fellowship with Him but possess only a superficial understanding of His glory, whenever sudden trials come upon us, the feeling that we are being maltreated or abused will inevitably rise to the fore, attempting to sow bitterness and despair.

My grandmother was a strict disciplinarian. While some might have the requisite “Bless This House” or “Joy Lives Here” needlepoint pillows about their homes, if my grandmother had ever gotten into needlepoint, I’m sure her pillow would have had “Spare The Rod, Spoil The Child” as its preeminent message. Even in her later years, when she needed to employ the aid of a walker, she found a way to administer discipline in varied and inventive ways.

Granted, we lived in a small apartment, and few corners were out of reach of her outstretched hands, even from a sitting position on the couch, but however many times she chose the way of the rod, I never doubted that she loved all three of us. Since my brother Daniel is the youngest, I tend to think she preferred him, but even he was not spared her discipline when it was deemed necessary.

God doesn’t stop loving us when He allows us to undergo testing. On the contrary, His correction is proof that we are His and that He considers us sons and daughters. He loves us enough to steer us clear of the pitfalls that would ensure our demise were we to follow through with what the flesh insists we ought. The flesh might resist the idea, but whenever a trial or a test comes upon us, it is intended for maturing and growth.

Proverbs 3:11-12, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”

If you’re a parent, you know that love as your children as you might, sometimes correction is necessary. It’s love that compels you to use the stern daddy voice, as my little one likes to call it, whenever you see them doing something you know will end in a bruise, a cut, or something much worse.

To them, climbing things that shouldn’t be climbed and jumping off is all in good fun—until it isn’t. The tile floor they’re about to belly flop on is unmerciful in its consistency, and rather than have to rush to urgent care to cast a leg or splint a finger, I step in as a loving father and end the festivities before mirth turns into tears. Those of you who have sons rather than daughters are likely rolling your eyes, thinking I don’t know the half of it, but I, too, was young once, with two little brothers, so I do know. My brother Sergiu still has a scar on his foot from when we played chicken with lawn darts. He didn’t move; a pyrrhic victory, indeed.

God never stops being a loving father, even when He chastens and corrects us. As wise children, we must never stop seeing Him as a good and loving father. I keep returning to this point because it is of paramount importance: Job never once, throughout his entire ordeal, doubted the character of the God he served. Had he done so, it would have unraveled in real-time, and he likely would have taken his wife’s advice to heart and done the unthinkable.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.