Excerpt from Job 39:26-40:5

"I'm ready to shut up and listen." (The Message)

Reflection by William C. Green

"If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut." I doubt these words of Albert Einstein would have gone over well with Job. This rich and righteous old man had been rendered destitute at the behest of the devil who said Job only believed in God because he was so blessed and successful. "The patience of Job" is a misnomer. Had he been patient he wouldn't have complained so much.

Job reminds me of the cartoon in which a golfer is struck by lightning and yells to the heavens, "Why me?" A booming voice responds, "Why not you?" What law in the universe says that any of us should be spared trouble and tragedy? Suffering can be arbitrary, evil is incomprehensible, and injustice is wrong by any standards we can imagine. When trouble strikes home it only makes matters worse.

Job doesn't really shut up on his own: he's silenced when overwhelmed by recognition of a power far beyond his own—a power that's got the whole world in its hands. It holds us tightly and close, whatever we face. It's love more awesome than anything that denies it. It finally restores Job—and it can restore us, however severe our own circumstances.

Prayer

I can't keep quiet when bad things happen, God. But remind me that your goodness is far greater than anything wrong and, although I can hardly believe it, all will be well. Amen.

About the Author William C. Green, a United Church of Christ minister, is the Director of Long Looking, a consultancy service specializing in fundraising and education for congregations. His new book, 52 Ways to Ignite Your Congregation: Generous Giving, has just been published.

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