Job 35 LOOK UP, NOT IN In this short monologue, Elihu more or less repeats himself, but it seems like the thought he wasn't getting through to Job. The three friends were entrenched n their opinions, so to try to change them was a lost cause. His point was to try to help Job. Perhaps because Job was unresponsive Elihu challenges his previous words. There was no disagreement between them as to how great God is or as to His right to do what He chooses. But the difference was, did Job have the right to know the reason behind suffering when he was not conscious of some specific sin in his life that moved God to allow punishment.
Is there any point of being faithful and committed to our convictions when calamity falls and everything we have worked for and done in life is taken away? Why should I try to be righteous and maintain a godly testimony if it doesn't make any difference to God as far as making life easier?
Elihu reiterates again a good point. Instead of looking with a self-centered viewpoint into the mirror of ourselves and our own opinions, look up and think about what we know about God. He is not manipulated by man's goodness or man's sin. Nothing we do changes the character of God, HIs sovereign will or has a lasting effect on what He does or does not do.
Divine principles are not affected by our concepts of right or wrong, nor by our opinions and/or actions. There are principles of righteousness that God promises to bless according to His sovereign will, but He has not obligated Himself to do anything because we expect it or demand it. Innocence as Job claimed he had, is the right thing, but it has in itself no guarantee that we have the right to expect prosperity, good health and blessings, because we have not done anything, we know is wrong.
We do not give our children prizes every time they do what is right and what pleases us. That is expected behavior. We also have varying degrees of discipline to correct what is wrong or further guide them in ways that are right which they have not yet experienced. But that does not mean they will not have problems to contend with at school, among their peers or even among their siblings.
Righteousness and innocence, does not mean that there will be no problems with which we have to contend. It is by means of problems people are brought to maturity, and by how learning how to deal with the problems, or live with them, that we become useful people. Many of God's people have made their best contributions to the kingdom of God by learning from their limitations. The calamities that have come upon them and they have to continually endure, have been the means that which is good for the benefit of others has been brought to them. We ourselves learn who we are and who God is by the good and bad things that happen to us. God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. To say God is not concerned with us or our needs just because He does not intervene and take them away because we want Him to, does a real disservice to Him who holds our breath in His hand. His justice and objectives are not carried out on our time- table but on His.
Elihu made it plain that we do not enhance or dismiss God's purposes by what we do, whether it is good or bad, but we do learn about ourselves. When we look up, we become truly God-conscious instead of looking within or in a mirror. All that does is make us self-conscious. Our perspective of ourselves changes when we look at the expanse of God's creation above us, and compare that with the little sphere of life in which we live. It is when we "consider Him" that we get a little understanding of the fact that God is determined to put the proud man down, and lift up the humble. Then the phrase, "Even so Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight," really means something to us.
There are a lot of oppressed people in the world who have been victimized, oppressed and live in absolute poverty. But they do not cry out to God or have calming "songs in the night" to ease their calamity and suffering. The reason God does not respond to their needs is that they do not want Him in their lives or have anything to do with Him. They want a god of their own imaginations who will do what they want. Pride makes prayers simply unreal complaints. How often have we heard people say, "If there is a God, why does He allow so many babies to die?" Then they go to an abortion clinic and have their own babies killed in order to maintain their own "quality of life."
The arrogance of men in challenging the sovereign purposes of God, is empty talk to which "the Almighty" shows no regard. There are those who regard God as no more than "the big guy upstairs," or on the same level as themselves. They casually use His name, or occasionally take a casual stroll in front of a cross and genuflect as they nod at the Savior. Their self-confident attitude about God and their relationship, or lack of it, with Him is a display of their ignorance.
God gives both sunny and cloudy days in life. Positive and negative lessons are part of our life experiences. It may be in those undistracted times of night-time suffering, whether the "night of pain," or sleeplessness on the bed, we are able to give undistracted attention to the words that come from our hearts to God who knows the thoughts and intents behind our sad songs, or songs of rejoicing.`
Waiting for solutions to a problem can be very frustrating. To be uncertain or needing to take the time needed to learn a lesson is hard on our pride. We resist the thought that we are ignorant, although we find it easy to see that others are ignorant because they don't see things my way. Elihu told Job at the end of this chapter to stop making attacks against the Almighty for not answering his pleas for understanding as to why he was suffering. Just wait patiently. God is quietly waiting for you to get over your tantrums.
It seems like Job wasn't being patient at all, although James wrote about "the patience of Job." His outbursts of anger and frustration were real, but the prolonged period of suffering physically, and listening to the pontifications of his friends must have severely tested his patient endurance. Even Elihu's last words of this short speech would have tried Job's patience. For some reason Elihu thought he had to put Job down and belittle his suffering in order to defend God. To know when to stop talking is as important as to know when to have something to say. To conclude a message with a few all-encompassing comments serves to reinforce and drive home precisely the main points.
Our great God is great and greatly to be feared, not just above all gods of man's opinion and making, but also in "the assembly of His saints, and to be held in reverence of all that are about Him." Job, and we, must hold Him in reverence, no matter what we know or don't know about His reasons for dealing with us in His chosen ways. Let us continually wait on Him in patience and in faith.