Read: Job 28 & James 3:10-19 & Proverbs 3:5-6
Recently, my husband and I purchased a cabin at the beach. This was a dream of mine and an unreal blessing. The yard had not been tended to in a few years, and we spent a good bit of time trying to get things under control. As I waded through leaves and pulled up vines with roots that we thought might reach the ocean, my mind wandered to James 3:10, “These things ought not so to be” (KJV). It was a funny, but somber thought as that Scripture came to mind. Many times we find ourselves in situations when good things seem bad, and we struggle with it.
Job found himself and his life in a downward spiral, and he wrestled with why. As we read through his discourse with God, he lays out a closing argument, pleading to understand how his life could end up in such a mess when he so carefully tried to live as a righteous man in every way he could imagine. “Where can wisdom be found?” “Where does wisdom come from?” “Where does understanding dwell?” (Job 28:12,20). In the same way that I had not done anything to cause the tangled roots, Job found himself feeling both blessed and cursed, and wanted to understand.
There are some things we may never know. “God understands the way to it (wisdom) and He alone knows where it dwells” (Job 28:23). Our circumstances should never be our proof of God’s abiding love and presence. Job’s blameless life and righteous ways had not gone unnoticed. His life is an example teaching us to fear God and shun evil, to seek wisdom and harvest righteousness.
