And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Habakkuk 3:19.

We have reached the final words of Job and they stretch over 5 chapters. In reading our chapter, Job 27, I then went back and read the final verses of the last chapter. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power? Job 26:14. That helped because in reading this chapter today, I’m struck by two things. Things I could never say: I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity. I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live…and…May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unjust!…For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life? Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them?…I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal…v. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11. It goes on to affirm what happens to the wicked. 

I’m not Job. I know God loves Job and heard every word Job said even without looking ahead in the book. I know the more words I use when I am in distress, the more problems I create for myself – and that God patiently guides me in the untangling and I know His peace surrounding me. I am learning that His timing is for my good always. Why do people suffer – the wicked and those trying to live lives for good? I don’t know. Thinking about what people suffer makes me weary. I watched on the news last night a Palestinian family living in the West Bank who are shepherds from many generations of shepherds. A father and his son were shown. They looked like nice people. I saw an Israeli settler coming out with a gun to order the man and the reporter back into the car now. I saw an Israeli grandmother who looked like every grandmother who loves saying words of unforgiveness for the killings done to her friends by Hamas. There was no love for the people of Palestine…Hamas has no love for the people of Israel. Anger and Hate. Multiply that in all of the conflicts and wars of today, the political upheavals – and what are you left with? Anger and Hate. We wonder where God is just as Job wondered why God was not intervening in his own suffering. Job’s friends blamed Job. Palestinians blame Israelis. Israelis blame Palestinians. 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Remember Psalm 23? He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake…The way of righteousness is not anger and hate. Anger and hate have gotten us here and keep us here in darkness. 

God’s timing who can trust? Everyone who lives in darkness and uncertainty. Not our timing. Are we not walking through the valley of the shadow of death? God’s timing is given in His love for our good. That isn’t something I’ve read, it’s what I have lived. Our pastor once told us God speaks to each person in the language they understand; not just a language like English or ancient Greek, but the language of our life experiences. He knows our struggles in our very life experiences and in our own tumultuous thoughts. Nothing is wasted. And in the end? Faith…Hope…Love. And the greatest of these is God’s Love. His Love will heal every wound and every wrong and restore our joy in Him and in one another. It takes time in each heart and mind. Trust God’s timing. He knows.