4 October 2024 Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5

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Please read the passage before reading the commentary

God spoke to Job.  God said that Job was not asking the right questions, that Job understood neither God nor the inner workings of the solar system and universe or of anything else.

This reminds me of Francis of Assisi, who died 798 years ago today.  When Francis heard God tell him to rebuild God’s church, he went out to get stones and mortar.  When God asked Francis whether it was better to serve the king or the servant of the king, Francis had to learn that he was not being sent to war but for peace.  When Francis was near death and suffering from eye disease and bodily pain, he sang his canticle of creation, calling on all creation by name to bless God for their existence.  He even praised God for Sister Death.

It is as if God were taking Job, Francis, and us beyond ourselves to see something of God’s glory so that we can sing God’s praises even when things seem to be going backwards.  Job had to step back from his daily pain, breathe deeply, and acknowledge God’s care and concern for him.  Francis of Assisi had to learn how to listen better to what God was saying to him.

In our daily lives we have to learn to listen to God and take a broader picture as God works with each of us, pruning, watering, correcting us so that we grow as God wants us to grow.