Tell Me If You Know

What God asks Job in the last chapters of the book of Job is overwhelming. Job has been defending himself throughout the book from "friends" who want him to come clean about his sin. Job insists he hasn't sinned and longs to vindicate himself before God. Well, here is his opportunity. But first God wants Job to answer a few little questions. It turns out the questions aren't as little as Job is. I remember when my children were younger. They would ride in the back seat of the car with their friends waxing eloquent about their vast knowledge (which was admittedly laughable and completely off-base). When I remembered those moments, this whole section suddenly came into sharp focus--I'm that child. Job is that child. God's understanding is so far above ours that we shrink in comparison. But we only shrink when we are willing to compare what we know and how we act with what God knows and how he acts.