"Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say"

So yesterday, I used a big word.  A “$10 word,” some old people might say.  “What was the word,” you ask?

Counterpose.  It means, “to place in contrast.”  You’d be hard-pressed to find more contrasting thoughts than peace and sorrows.  Yet that seems to be our lot in life, living in seasons of peace alternating with seasons of sorrow, good times and bad times, abundance and need.  It was certainly Job’s lot.

You remember Job?  Had it all.  Health, wealth and prosperity.  Then lost it all (in reverse order, ironically).  Then got it all back and more. But during that season of sorrow upon sorrow he declared:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

–Job 1:21

And on top of that we are told in the next verse (vs. 22):

 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

These words were spoken in chapter 1.  But there are 41 more chapters.  Why?  It kind of seems like everything that needs to be said has been said.  You would think.  But this is a human we’re talking about.  Words come easy.  Belief? Not so much.  And even though he believed what he said (remember, he did not sin), he still needed to work through –and live through– the experience.  He despairs.  He debates with friends the question of “why me?”  Job still had to mentally and emotionally work through what he believed.  There is no sin in that.  God can take the hard questions.  The real question is: Can you take the hard answers, especially when those answers lead to another counterposition?  Our humanity versus His divinity?

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Dress for action like a man;  I will question you, and you make it known to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.”

–Job 38:1-4

Allow me to paraphrase: “Who are you and what do you know?  Gear up, buddy and let’s do this.  You’ve been questioning me.  Now it’s my turn.”  Then God spends the next four chapters showing Job how small he is and how great God is. It actually feels a little like like a smackdown. In no uncertain terms, God says, “There is a God and you’re not Him.”

Sometimes we need to intentionally remember that.  Often, it takes harsh means to get our attention and remind us that our ways are not His ways.  He is omniscient, and we don’t even know what’s for dinner.  He is omnipotent, and we’re afraid of the IRS (okay, to be fair, you might have good reason for that).  He sees what we can become, even when we don’t know who we really are.  And He knows what it will take to get us there, even if we feel like we can’t even put one foot in front of the other any longer.

If we are honest with ourselves, we need those times of contrast, the difficult counterposed with the comfortable.  And it’s okay to ask questions in the midst of it.  But be sure to listen for God’s answers.  Because that’s when He teaches us to say “It is well.”

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Finally…

In 2002, Matt Redman captured this same counterposition in his song, “Blessed Be Your Name.”  Take five minutes and open your Spotify account (or Apple Music, Pandora, Youtube, etc.).  Listen to it, especially the line that begins, “My heart will choose to say.”  Then let your heart choose to sing along.

IT IS WELL // BEYOND WORDS //JIM FAULK