When You Thought You Had Only Heard, Where Are You?

Job Chapter 42

At last,

Job responds.

“I had heard of You

by the hearing of the ear.

But now,

my eyes have seen You.”

For a long time,

Job continued questioning.

He sought the reason for suffering.

He demanded explanations.

He spoke of his own righteousness.

His friends also continued speaking.

Righteousness.

Retribution.

Explanations about God.

But in the end,

what remained

was not explanation.

It was the Lord Himself.

Job says,

“I had heard of You.”

As knowledge.

As understanding.

As explanation.

But now,

he is brought

to stand before the Lord.

Here,

the entire book of Job reaches its conclusion.

The reason for suffering

is never fully explained.

Yet Job becomes one

who stands before the Lord.

People can hear about God.

They can learn explanations.

They can deepen their understanding.

But standing before the Lord

is another matter entirely.

When you thought you had only heard, where are you?

Are you remaining within knowledge?

Within explanations?

Or are you standing before the Lord,

even while you still do not fully understand?

Job did not understand everything.

Yet he stood before the Lord.

“I had heard of You

by the hearing of the ear.

But now,

my eyes have seen You.”

Beyond explanation,

people finally begin to stand before the Lord.

Beyond explanation, people finally begin to stand before the Lord.