When God Asked The Question

“Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, an answer thou me.” – Job 38: 3

 
More than once, I have come to ask God why we experience hardships in life. Before I started working, I kept on struggling with my issues during in internship. I began to seek answers on how hard life could be and why am I undergoing such trials. More so when while working, issues such as money, pride, responsibility and so many others started to surface. It was even too much to bear when question after questions barraged my brain that I could not answer.

Why should these things fall on us? Why do we have to struggle a lot? Why does life seemed so burdensome? These questions in mind led me to search the scriptures.

I have known that of all the great men in the Bible, Job’s struggle was by far the greatest. Where else can you find a righteous man whose success in life is unrivaled by anyone in his time. Yet with one swoop everything disappeared leaving him not only broken hearted but broken physically as well. But with that already in mind, I still didn’t know the whole story.

What I learned from Job is astounding.

Consider a man like him, he was called blameless. Yet the sudden turn of events made him seemed to be cursed of men. All his children dead, his properties stolen, his wife estranged, and his body almost left for dead all at the same time could be enough to drive any man stark raving mad. It was the hardest for anyone to endure.

Job’s tragedy never fully ended there. His friends taunted him for days with Job trying his best to counter their every word. When Job is at the brink of giving in to their will, the most amazing thing happened God spoke. If that isn’t enough to put you in awe, then you’d be surprised at what he said: He asked questions.

We all know what happened when God spoke. In Genesis, his very words made the world as we know it. His breath even holds the very lives that we have. The last time He asked a question, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. In Exodus, his mere presence caused the all the hairs on Moses’ body to turn white. Bottom line is you really should cower when He asks you something.

What God asked to Job at that time was really astounding. Putting yourself in the shoes of that man, your trouble was only the loss of everything you have and here was the giver of it all, asking you where were you when he made all those donkeys, camels, and much more your life?

It is a bitter sweet reminder to all of us that these things that we experience are petty things compared to what God has done for all of us. Job’s story was God’s challenge not only for Job but for all of us. Should we try to ask Him why, we should prepare ourselves to answer the who, the what, and the where.