Why?: A Study Through JobSample

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said: ‘Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.’”—Job 40:1-2 (NKJV)

Have you ever caught yourself saying something along the lines of, “When I get to Heaven, I’m going to ask God why He . . .”? Or do you have a checklist of disappointments in your life that you plan on going over with the Lord when you’re finally face-to-face with Him?

I’m fairly confident that all of us have either been there or are there. After all, we spend our lifetime here on earth while God is in Heaven. And while many of us trust that He is good and that He is in control, we naturally have a hard time reconciling how He can allow a lot of the things that happen in this world. On this side of eternity, why wouldn’t we question Him, or perhaps even challenge Him on certain points?

But the Book of Job reveals something astounding to us. Bear in mind, Job is sort of in that very place that we’ve been describing. His life has all but fallen apart. He’s been asking and even challenging God as to why his earthly life has taken such a terrible turn. Then God shows up . . . and everything changes. The question of “Why?” is totally eclipsed by the awesome majesty of “Who!”

God appears and rhetorically asks: “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.” There is no answer, no words for that! And there’s an important lesson for us to draw from this.

Isolated in our circle of circumstance here on earth, it’s easy to envision ourselves bringing our injustices before the Lord and getting a proper explanation for everything. But in reality, when the barrier between Him and us is removed and we behold Him in the fullness of His power, glory, radiance, and majesty, everything else will vanish! There’s no place to challenge or correct the Almighty, or even question Him. God’s presence is so powerful that all we will be able to bring ourselves to do is worship Him! 

This used to bother me, because I’m the sort who has to know the answer to everything. But then it started to sink in that eternity won’t be defined by the absence of answers, but by the presence of something that will take all eternity to behold. The ultimate answer to all our earthly questions will be God’s heavenly presence . . . for that will prove to be all we could ever want! 

DIG: What eclipsed Job’s question of “Why?”

DISCOVER: What will our actual response to God be in Heaven? 

DO: Reflect on how knowing this changes your present outlook on life.