“For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.” (Job 23:14 AV)
When we are in deep duress or times of extreme confusion, often we
utter the truth we are seeking without even realizing it. As a preacher, this often happens while we
are sermonizing. We may tag on a thought
or two that answers to a challenge of our own and not even realize what we have
said until someone else points it out to us.
Above, Job states God’s sovereignty and decrees mean those things that
are happening to him, God has allowed or performed. The word appointed also indicates those
things were determined beforehand, and there is nothing Job did to change a predetermined
plan for Job. In other words, the loss
of his family, health, and material possessions were appointed to happen to Job
and God determined this before Job’s existence.
The real profundity of the above verse is the phrase that follows. Admitting that many such things are with God
is a statement attesting to those things which happen to us belong to God and
He is not obligated to explain Himself nor does it mean that if He did, we
would understand it or accept it. If Job
would have listened to his statement above, the book of Job would have ended in
chapter twenty-three. The art of
listening to one’s self is lost.
There are several experiences from which I can draw. One of which I have used before. Another, which was extremely obvious, was one
of my past mentors who was making serious misjudgments in his ministry. He truly believed the situation was bound to
end in a favorable way only to take him further down the road to eventual
failure. Choices were repeatedly made
expecting a favorable end only to have the result of those choices being just
the opposite. This created a new set of
circumstances that required new choices to be made. Making the exact same type of choice hoping
the outcome would be favorable only to see the consequences compounded. This went on for years. One Sunday, this pastor preached a message
and quoted an oft-used phrase, “The definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over expecting different results.” This quote is often attributed to Albert Einstein
although this cannot be proved.
Regardless of who or what organization was the originator, his point was
obvious. Repeatedly making the same
choice resulting in the same outcome when that outcome is not desired is utter
foolishness. I had high hopes. I expected my pastor to make a one-hundred
and eighty-degree turn. I expected a
different direction that would undo the damage caused by wrong decisions. But alas, he did not.
God gives wisdom in all sorts of ways.
Primarily by His word. However,
there is general revelation, like creation, that often shows us the right
choices to make or an answer to an issue of faith with which we had been
struggling. Sometimes it is experience. Or experiences or those of another that
speaks to the struggles of the heart. However,
every once in a while, we utter the very wisdom which we need without even
realizing it. We say words that are deep
in our minds and hearts that have not come to the place of usefulness. They exit our mouths but they do not
reverberate back into our minds and hearts where they might take root. It is at these times when a true friend is
nearby to refocus us onto what was just said.
That friend can stop the speaker and focus his mind on the wisdom the speaker
had all along but did not realize it.
This occurrence is evidence of the working of the Holy Spirit through
our minds and hearts without our noticing it.
Job did not have four enlightened or sensitive friends. The utterance above was lost on Job and his
friends. If his friends were better
listeners than they were counselors, the problem would have been solved. But no one listened. No one took heed how they heard. Only what they heard. Next time we are in a dilemma and we are trying
to reason it out, we may want a sounding board that will echo back our words;
for in those words our answer might lie.
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