Many years ago I flew back to Arkansas to visit my parents. On this occasion my dad wanted to take Steve and I on a day trip to see some caverns. We were both excited and up for the adventure. After a long drive and a short hike we started down a long narrow pathway. When we approached the entrance I noticed that the temperature had dropped significantly. The brightness of the sun was no longer lighting our path because we were underground. I had apprehensions to say the least and doubts about making it out of there alive. As we continued further into the cavern I was awestruck at what was hidden and buried beneath the earths surface. The spectacular natural wonders that lay beneath were a marvel. The utter silence and wonderment provided moments to reflect on yet another prism of God’s majesty. I sensed that everyone was just as amazed as we were.
There was a man in the Old Testament who made an unexpected discovery about God. In the simplist narrative he was healthy wealthy and wise. His success was enviable. His family was large and also very prosperous. He was a God fearing man, and respected in his community. Yet in one day his life was completely upended. In a matter of few days he went from being a pillar in his community to a sickly pauper crying out to God. His wife’s only words of advice were “curse God and die.” With unimaginable grief, loss, bodily and emotional torment Job would begin a journey like no other.
Job and his friends try desperately to pull apart and examine the reasons for his calamity. Chapter by chapter they attempt to formulate a cause and effect approach to answer their “why’s”. There were brief moments in Jobs observations about God that were very biblical! Listen to Jobs words in chapter 23:10,14 “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. For He performs what is appointed for me, and many such decrees are with Him.” How many of us have clung to those very words. What blessed assurance to millions of believers in moments of doubt and uncertainty.
But no one in Jobs circle had arrived were their knowledge would provide an adequate answer to this Tsunami of suffering. Why? Because God was after more. God answered but not in the way Job expected. The Lord of all the cosmos was watching, waiting and anticipating the right moment to reveal something better. Himself! His majesty! His Sovereignty! His authority! His goodness! His wisdom! Human hands did not create Him. He is not the thought finite intellect. He surpasses the galaxies He created and upholds all things by the word of His power.
Look to Me was God’s reply to Job! I AM enough if you will let Me be.
Job had to travel down to a very dark and deep cavern. But it was there that he reached his final and most soul quieting discovery. “Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Job 42:1-3
The last and greatest lesson that the soul has to learn is the fact that God, and God alone, is enough for all its needs. This is the lesson that all His dealings with us are meant to teach; and this is the crowning discovery of our whole Christian life. God Is Enough! Hannah Whitall Smith
