Job CCCXLI

Job 42:1-6, “Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

It took forty-two chapters, but Job finally comes to his epiphany. Some men take far longer to reach this monumental realization that shifts the perspective of everything else in one’s life, namely that God can do everything. There is no purpose of His that can be withheld from Him, and others, in their stubborn stiff-neckedness, never do, insisting until their last breath that they are in control, the masters of their destiny, and the captains of their ship. They fail to understand that whether they accept the reality that God does as He wills, and no purpose of His can be withheld from Him, or they kick against the goads, resist Him, and throw fists at their own shadows in frustration, God will still have His way.

There are two distinct statements in Job’s first sentence as he begins to answer God. The first is his profound realization that God can do everything. He didn’t say he thought, hoped, believed, or presumed God can do everything; he knew. Deep down in the marrow of his bones, without doubt or equivocation, Job knew that God can do everything.

That statement alone is more profound than one might think, especially given the spiritual confusion blanketing the contemporary church. On the one side, you have individuals who insist that God has a governor of sorts, in that they can declare things that are not within the parameters of God’s will for them, and somehow God is compelled to do as they demand. That would mean that God is beholden to the whims and wants of men, and if I declare a thing, He is honor-bound to make it happen. To such individuals, God’s will and purpose are not supreme; they are arbitrary and only come into play as long as His will and their will coincide.

It’s tempting, isn’t it, the idea that I can declare a thing and it must be so regardless of God’s will or purpose. There was even a book, and merch to go along with this premise, by a self-styled Texas pastor who will remain unnamed. I’m sure you can Google it.

The will of God is supreme. You can declare until you’re blue in the face, and if that is not God’s will for you, all you’ll end up with is bitterness and resentment, because unlike Job you have not come to the understanding that not only can God do everything, but no purpose of His can be withheld from Him.

On the other side of the coin, you have those who outright deny God’s authority and ability to do everything, insisting that whatever they’ve decided no longer applies to this modern age is something that God can no longer do. I’ve heard it, as have we all, and each time it’s as cringeworthy as the last: God doesn’t do that anymore! Says who? Did God say it? If He didn’t, then don’t assume or presume to know the mind of God, and declare something He never did.

It runs the gamut, and once you begin to think about how many things men say God doesn’t do or can’t do anymore, it’s frightening how often the attempt to supplant and appropriate the authority of God is made.

I know you can do everything! No carveouts, no addendums, no exceptions, no limitations; everything means everything. Yes, due to our own limitations, we sometimes have difficulty grasping the reality that God can do everything, but my inability to run a five-minute mile does not mean that no one else could ever run a five-minute mile. It has been proven and documented that some, albeit a finite number, can indeed run a five-minute mile. So an appropriate response to the reality of the situation ought to be, I can’t do it, but I know it’s possible, because others have.

Then, by your own logic, you can’t dismiss any of the claims people have made of being teleported to heaven in a porta-potty or visiting ice cream land for a double scoop of mint chocolate chip. Not so. While it is possible for someone to run a five-minute mile, they must still run it. If they rode a bike, they are disqualified. If they used a motorcycle to get to the mile marker in less than five minutes, they are disqualified. They must attempt the feat on foot, as everyone who accomplished it before them did.

There are rules set forth that were established since the beginning, and they cannot be broken, ignored, brushed off, or countermanded.

Exodus 33:17-20, “So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight and I know you by name.'” And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”’

That’s the rule, clear as day, and if God would not break it for one such as Moses, He will not break it for anyone. Our desire for new experiences cannot make us turn a blind eye or disregard the order God has established in His word. To do so is to court and invite the one who masquerades as an angel of light to sow chaos, deceit, and confusion.  

With love in Christ.

Michael Boldea, Jr.