Elihu continues in Job 35 and 36 to speak truth to Job and us. He makes a very important observation that describes so many of us: “People are arrogantly indifferent to God– until, of course, they’re in trouble, and then God is indifferent to them”. We tend to put God on the shelf until we need Him, and then, in the course of “panic” we come running and screaming “waiting to be heard”. Why do we think it can work that way? Cmon, we all know that is not how relationships work. And it certainly is not how it works with God. We need to be in daily communication and relationship with Him. We need to be talking to Him and living life with Him moment by moment, not just when we need Him. God isn’t on the end of an SOS line waiting for us to call when we have exhausted our own efforts. It doesn’t work like that. Are you walking with Him daily? Do you have a relationship that doesn’t resemble this description? I sure hope so because this plan won’t work. We have to be in continual relationship to have a relationship.
Elihu goes on to explain the reality of why “things go badly” in our lives. There is some great information here we need to pay close attention to as he describes the steps that happen:
- God tells them where they’ve gone wrong
- shows them how their pride has caused their trouble
- forces them to heed his warning
- tells them they must repent of their bad life
Here it is – the steps to know when things go badly. Interesting that pride is called out as the root of it. Pride means we put ourself in a place we don’t belong – normally pushing God off the throne of our life. It is thinking more highly of ourself than we ought, and it causes us to sin and fall flat on our face. Elihu goes on to give us two scenarios:
- If they obey and serve him, they’ll have a good, long life on easy street
- But if they disobey, they’ll be cut down
The choice is ours. We can choose to walk God’s way and experience His goodness, or we can take the pride route and be cut down. Maybe not right away, but it will happen and we will look back and wonder why. The answer is clear – God demands to be on the throne – He is King and it will happen. His time, His way, but it will be!
