Fighting Reality: The Folly and Illusion of Control
On Job's "answer" from God. (Holy Hump Day! #3)
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
“Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
“Now gird up your loins like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Job 38:1-4 (NASB 1995)
Thus begins the string of questions that “answer” Job’s complaint about his suffering.
There is a way the world works because there is a Creator who made it so. God’s questions have two targets:
Job’s ignorance about a vast and complex world
His powerlessness to control the workings of that world
To make his rhetorical point, God simplifies creation to a metaphor about construction—something a wealthy man like Job likely understood, but which stupefied him at the scale of creating a planet. Then God moves on to the dawn and the movement of the heavens, ocean tides, weather, seasons, and fearful beasts of earth and sea.
These questions point to a wisdom in the interwoven systems that make the world work. Reality has patterns and rules that make it knowable. That’s why we can explore the workings of God’s wisdom through scientific inquiry.
In our technological materialism, however, we’ve fallen for the ruse that we can tame the wilds about which God grills Job. It’s foolish hubris.
Even now, with our technological advances, our scientists often make educated guesses about how God does things. They know about the iceberg, but they cannot see or understand deep enough beneath the surface to know the iceberg’s true form, scope, and effect. We think we understand the Universe, and that our knowledge gives us power over it.
We’re wrong. Which leads to God’s second point.
The enemy pulled a grand con by letting us think we could gain dominion over the world by materialistic understanding.
God speaks the truth every year in the whirlwind and wildfire: We can’t fortify ourselves against natural disasters. There’s no pill or surgery that will transform our biology or guarantee health and wellness. Storms and disease will come. Tragedy will strike. It’s part of reality. Fighting against it is futile.
But like Job’s friends, there is another folly the accuser has lured us into. We have become a culture of “natural men,” struggling to discern the picture while only looking at a small portion.
Our default materialism has blinded us to spiritual reality and spiritual truth, which God has also created and organized according to His own rules and principles.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NASB 1995)
While Job questioned why his success had turned to tragedy in a day, his friends assumed they knew. They believed they understood the spiritual situation and that there was a way to gain power over the problem. Job had obviously sinned so badly that God was punishing him by removing all the blessings. If he would only repent, the blessings would return.
Job knew the minimum truth that nothing needed repenting, so their magical methods would fail.
When God addresses the friends in chapter 42, He threatens to deal with them “according to their folly” because they have spoken lies about Him. Their only out is to make a sacrifice and get Job to pray for them. They were natural men, foolishly blind until God revealed the truth.
What does this mean for us?
There is a reality, both natural and spiritual. Both follow rules set by God. We are ignorant of much. Against the immense forces He orchestrates in both earthly and heavenly realms, we are puny and powerless. Fighting against that reality is foolish. Control is an illusion.
Because there is order, it’s tempting to just “figure out” how things work and rely on that rule. This makes the tool an idol. Trusting the tools He gave us, like scientific inquiry, common sense, or wisdom, is as foolish as trying magical incantations. The exceptions will humble us.
It comes to this simple and freeing truth: trust God in all things and do everything diligently and humbly for Him.
This is the scope of power He allows us. The outcomes are in His hands.
Now, what can you stop forcing and trust to God?
Updates:
Yesterday, I finished the editor’s changes for my new kids’ book:
I celebrated with a little extra coffee.
If you’re curious about a series that promotes virtues for kids through fun, adventurous stories, then please sign up here to be notified when the Kickstarter is ready. We’re aiming for the campaign launch after the holiday rush.
This is a collaborative project with my daughter, so we’re using a pen name. She can’t wait to see it become real. I hope you’ll join the campaign and help spread the virtues that created (and can restore) our culture.
In addition to Imago Dad, Brandon Wilborn writes fantasy with spiritual themes. His current project is a series for young readers about a dog with an imagination that highlights the classic virtues of our Judeo-Christian heritage. But he’s already got a couple of fantasy books and stories available at BrandonWilborn.com