A time to be quiet and listen to God

Job 40:1-5 (The Message)
1-2 God then confronted Job directly: “Now what do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?” 3-5 Job answered: “I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! I’ve talked too much, way too much. I’m ready to shut up and listen.”

Throughout the book of Job, Job questioned why God was causing him to suffer. Job’s friends kept questioning Job as to what he did wrong to have God angry at him. But we know from the first book of Job that God was testing Job to show Satan that Job was a man of character. For God had said to Satan about Job, “He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

 

In chapters 38 and 39 God begins to speak to Job and his friends ask questions –

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.  Here your proud waves must stop!’ Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors. The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

And the questions didn’t stop there, they went on for another chapter and a half. It is at this point one might think, OOPS, I have spoken things about God I did not understand and now God is asking me questions I don’t understand or have an answers to. So Job responds by saying, ““I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! I’ve talked too much, way too much. I’m ready to shut up and listen.”

There is probably none of us who at times have not questioned God, questioned His purpose, or questioned why He might have placed us where we are. We have to remember God created us and God is a loving, merciful and just God who loved this world so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to die for our sins. We need to learn to be like Job and close our mouths and listen to what God is telling us. We are so quick to come to our conclusions and make our own plans that we don’t see God’s big plan for our life. Let us all learn to listen to God by reading His word, fellowshipping with Him in prayer and then remaining silent to wait on an answer instead of making senseless statements and questioning God’s authority.