“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” (Job 38:4-11 ESV).
In a poem, Corrie Ten Boom compares her life to a tapestry woven by God. She says that God weaves both joy and sorrow into her life, and it is as though she sees only the back of the tapestry. She says she cannot understand how the strands could ever make something beautiful. But God understands and has a plan for how everything in her life will come together for his beautiful purpose. She goes on to say that it is only in heaven that we will see the finished side of the tapestry and experience the beauty God has created in our lives.
Job, to whom God is speaking in our reading today, is a bit like that. Seeing only the back of the tapestry of his life, he has many questions about the fairness of God’s dealing with him. Job has had to deal with terrible suffering and tragedy, and he does not understand why it all happened. God responds with a poetic speech about the creation of the world. God is the one who created everything, including things that are so mysterious that we don’t even know how to speak about them. God reminds Job of this to both challenge and assure him. God challenges Job to be humble about his own knowledge. And God assures Job that he has a plan, even though it may be hard to understand.
I find myself in the same position more of the time than not. There are many things about God’s purposes that I simply do not understand. What I can understand is the unfailing promise of God to provide for me and for the world he has beautifully made. That knowledge, as little as it may be, is the root of faith which ultimately brings hope and peace to bear in my life. Let it do the same in yours.