The Answer Is Blowin' In The Wind
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?" (Job 38:1-7)
As far as Job was concerned, only one of two things could be true: either he was guilty and didn't know it, or he was innocent and the tragedies that befell him proved that God was unjust. Job had demanded that God choose one and explain God's self. God did neither.
Much like a parent might address a child who demands a reasonable (to the child) amount of money to get that thing that the child just must have right now, God asked Job a series of rhetorical questions meant to show exactly how limited Job's perspective was in comparison to the expansiveness of God's omniscience. We like to believe that it’s our right to understand everything, and when something doesn’t make sense to us, we tend to declare that it doesn’t make sense at all. But God is mystery, and God's order is beyond our comprehension. We crave the ability to grasp and tame the apparent chaos so that when things don't go according to our plans we, like Job, can call God to account. But God was not accountable to Job, and the whirlwind through which God finally acknowledged Job blew a gust of upheaval on Job's attempt at order and control.
Life is change, and all change - rather it's something we're looking forward to or dreading - is disruptive. It knocks us off our axis and forces us to adjust. But, even when it's uncomfortable, that doesn't mean it's wrong. Though it’s difficult, shifting our perspective from ourselves and our circumstances to our Creator can unburden us and allow us to see beyond our situation - not to explain it into submission to our will, but to expand our reverence for the One who holds even the hardest moments, the One who holds us even in our hardest moments. May the whirlwind sweep us off our feet, blow us out of our comfort zone, and propel us into the will of the Comforter.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.
35c Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.
(Psalm 104:31-34,35c)
