Job 28:12-28
Trying to Figure It Out

"But where shall wisdom be found?
       Where is the place of understanding?
Man doesn't know its price;
       Neither is it found in the land of the living.
The deep says, 'It isn't in me.'
       The sea says, 'It isn't with me.'
It can't be gotten for gold,
       neither shall silver be weighed for its price.
It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir,
       with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
Gold and glass can't equal it,
       neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal.
       Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
       Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
Where then does wisdom come from?
       Where is the place of understanding?
Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living,
       and kept close from the birds of the sky.
Destruction and Death say,
       'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'

"God understands its way,
       and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth,
       and sees under the whole sky.
He establishes the force of the wind.
       Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
When he made a decree for the rain,
       and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
then he saw it, and declared it.
       He established it, yes, and searched it out.
To man he said,
       'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
       To depart from evil is understanding.'"

World English Bible

One of the primary theological questions across the ages has been "why do bad things happen to good people?"

I've wrestled with that one often, especially when I or someone close to me is dealing with extraordinary difficulties. I've constructed somewhat of a "mental dance" that attributes part of the root cause to the inevitable consequences of sin in my life, and part of it to the essential broken nature of this life because of the existence of Sin. I am eager to avoid considering the Old Testament mentality that attributes evil to God as an act of punishment, even though I know that Love allows God to reprimand us so we change our ways. I want to feel that I have an understanding, both for myself and for those I know who are hurting, of how God responds to the rough times in our lives, but I have a nagging sense that I don't understand at all.

My "Bad Things" mental dance was severely disrupted this week when I read a meditation postulating that God is behind every event in our lives, whether we consider it good or bad. Laura A. Barter Snow's thoughts were penned almost 100 years ago, but I couldn't dismiss this as remnants of an out-of-date theology. Her point in this startling claim was to remind us that God is always in control and God will always bring Good out of every circumstance. We have no reason to worry because, excerpting from 1 Kings 12:24, "This is My doing."

Am I to accept that the God who is Good frequently causes bad things to happen? How am I to reconcile my internal sense of wrong and right if God is directly involved in natural disasters and catastrophic human expressions of evil?

This passage from Job 28 warns that Wisdom is not as available to us as we would like to think. Job's three friends were sure they knew why Job was in his desperate condition, and they all gave what was shown to be foolish advice to him. Even the fearsome powers of Destruction and Death do not know where to find Wisdom—it is a priceless treasure hidden away and guarded by God, only to be shared with people who would commit wholly to a relationship with God.

I must recognize that my "wisdom" about good and evil is unreliable and frequently wrong. Of course I am not saying that any one of the natural disasters of the past several years was any less a tragedy of great human suffering, and I am not providing any justification for the horrible evils that humans have inflicted in hate on other humans. What I do have to admit is that I am not capable of knowing how everything works out in the end. I must stop relying on my sense of justice to assess these events and depend on God's promise to work all things for Good for the faithful.

When I stop relying on my own sense of fairness to influence how I consider events, I might listen more closely to those who are directly impacted by the events. People who are hurting are not comforted by my "Bad Things" mental dance, and I know I am only frustrated at the darkest times by my feeble attempts to explain what I do not know. People who are hurting need divine Comfort and Love, and God longs to use me as a conduit in difficult times. I've heard it often, but I am still foolishly surprised when someone thanks believers for "just being there" in a crisis. When we are God's obedient foot-soldiers reporting for action, it is God who is present, and it is God's Presence that calms fears, soothes hurts, and offers hope.

Peace comes only when I give up my attempts to figure it all out. Wisdom comes when I stop thinking that I have wisdom and cling tightly to the only One that does. I don't have to understand if, how, or why God might have brought about the personal tragedies I see around me—I only have to live in confidence that God is in absolute control of every circumstance, and eagerly expect that God's Love is with us always.