Job 8:2-7
“How long will you go on like this? 
You sound like a blustering wind. 
Does God twist justice? 
Does the Almighty twist what is right? 
Your children must have sinned against him, 
so their punishment was well deserved. 
But if you pray to God 
and seek the favor of the Almighty, 
and if you are pure and live with integrity, 
he will surely rise up and restore your happy home. 
And though you started with little, 
you will end with much.” (NLT)

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Easy answers to timeless questions are almost always at least a little bit wrong. 

Every situation is unique. One size does not fit all. Between what we see and cannot see, what we know and what we cannot know, is a greater truth and a deeper reality than we can conceive. 

Social media postulations are poor substitutes for God’s words of truth and life. 

Individual axioms often miss the bullseye even when they hit the target. 

Bildad spoke some powerful truths to his down-and-out friend Job. He did not speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He did not and could not see the deeper reality of what was going on. Maybe the old proverb got its start here: “There’s more going on here than meets the eye.” 

Between what we know and what we cannot know is that which is known by God alone. 

One of the most intelligent things we can say at times is, “I don’t know.”

Another good statement starter is, “I wonder . . .”

Reality: I know many truths, and can learn still more.

Bigger reality: There are some answers I will never learn this side of forever. 

Mystery surrounds us more frequently than we prefer. How do we handle the mysterious distance crowding our spaces? Go again to Proverbs 3:5, 6.  

Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everyone on your own. 
Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.

We can trust our unknowable unknowns to our deeply-known Father in Heaven. 

The more I know God and see him for who he is, the fewer concerns I have over what I do not and cannot know. He’s got the whole world in his hands, including you and me, and our questions and concerns. He has never failed, and he won’t start now. When I cannot trust my intellect and education, I can trust God’s mind. When I cannot trust my emotions and desires, I can trust God’s heart. 

Bildad would get dozens of likes on Facebook for what he says here. Job got something better. He got the stamp of God’s faithful love even as he complained, even as he questioned why so many horrible things were happening in his life. Job’s story gives us courage to trust God from the bottom of our hearts. It gives us greater confidence in our unseen God than in our painfully visible problems. 

Job had problems. Easy answers was one of them; God’s purpose in his pain was not. 

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I will listen to those who instruct and correct me, but I will fully trust God alone. 

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Our Father, so many people want to straighten out our paths with their hard-earned wisdom. You lead us along the right paths (Psalm 23:3) that are sometimes steep, sometimes winding, sometimes dark and dangerous. Because you are leading this expedition, we can entrust our journeys and outcomes to your loving care. There is so much we do not know and cannot know, and that’s okay. You see it all, know it all, and provide all the loving care we need to get where you want us to go. What’s our best next step today? We will follow you all the way. Amen.