“The LORD said to Job: ‘Will the one who contends with the almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!’” Job 40:1-2, NIV Translation
While waiting for an appointment last week, I became privy to a conversation taking place right next to where I was sitting. Actually, I became included in the conversation when one of the women heard me comment about having had the Covid-19 virus this past winter. A very young woman who said she was twenty-two years old immediately jumped onto my admission by sharing that her family had also endured the virus and that her parents were still experiencing side-effects. Then, she said something that completely caught me off guard; she stated, “this is why I don’t believe in God.”
Of course, my heart was breaking as I could only think that at such a young age, over something relatively mild as her challenge, she had passed judgement against God for not fulfilling her presumed duty, and that she still had a lot of life left with more and doubtless deeper challenges ahead. What then will she say of God?
Job is one of my favorite Bible characters because he lived through the toughest of all earthly tragedies losing everyone and everything known to him. Still, he loved and trusted God, knowing everything comes from Him and belongs to Him. The young woman leading into this story is not unique in how she reacts when her story does not play out as she desires. We all tend to think that because we pray a certain request to God, that He is obliged to follow our directions; when He doesn’t, we think the deficiency is in Him. Years ago, I heard a speaker say, “God is not a sugar-daddy of whom we make requests, expecting that his sole responsibility is to fulfill our desires.”
We will all face disappointments in this world. I pray that when we do, we will lean into God and not pull away. He is our Comforter and Sustainer. Through Jesus Christ, God is our very best Friend in all circumstances.