Readings for today: Job 25-28
Our world is filled with knowledge. We have so much knowledge we literally do not know what to do with it. So much information coming at us from every angle. The average person is inundated with well over a hundred emails every day. Not to mention texts. Phone calls. Social media interactions. A single issue of the New York Times contains more information than a person a hundred or so years ago might have learned in an entire year. The news is relentless. The fake news endless. Technology ubiquitous. We cannot escape. We cannot rest. And what has all this knowledge gained us? Rising rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Rising rates of fear, violence, and hate. All this in a world that is demonstrably improving with each passing year. Why? What are we missing? What is the source of our persistent discontent?
Wisdom. Wisdom is the key. We simply do not know the path to wisdom or we refuse to take it. Today’s reading from the Book of Job is on point. "Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the ground, and rock is poured out as copper…On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand; he has overturned mountains at their bases. He has cut out channels through the rocks; his eyes have spotted every precious thing. He has searched the sources of the rivers and what was hidden he has brought into the light. But wisdom – where can it be found? Where is the place of understanding? Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living.” (Job 28:1-2, 9-13 NET) Human beings are capable of great things. We literally move mountains. We climb the highest mountains. We delve in the deep places of the earth. We’ve learned to fly. We’ve explored the depths of the oceans. We know how to do so very much. But for all our strength and power and knowledge and ability, we have yet to find the path to wisdom. We didn’t find it on the mountaintops. We searched for it in vain in the trenches of the seas. Despite our vast wealth we could not find a vender who sold it.
Only God knows the path to wisdom. Only God knows how to take all of our knowledge and order it in such a way that it leads to blessing and human flourishing. “But wisdom – where does it come from? Where is the place of understanding? For it has been hidden from the eyes of every living creature, and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed. Destruction and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’ God understands the way to it, and he alone knows its place…And he said to mankind, ‘The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” (Job 28:20-23, 28 NET) Fear the Lord. Submit to His ways. Surrender to His will. Let Him guide and direct your steps. This is the path to wisdom. God’s promise to those who follow Him is that He will lead us to green pastures and beside still waters. To places of peace where our souls will be restored. Job understands we cannot find these places on our own. We cannot get to these places on our own. Our knowledge is simply not enough. We must let God take us by the hand. We must trust God with our lives and our future. We must have faith that He knows best.
Readings for tomorrow: Job 29-32