Job 42:1-17
Job Feels God's Presence
1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
I used to often wonder if patience is wisdom...But as I reflect on wisdom, and the Wisdom of God, and see and think about the Patience of God, I see that they are related but not the same thing...So we can believe that patience is closely related to wisdom....
Here's a breakdown of how they relate to each other and interconnect for a Spiritual Perspective...Patience, and the gently artful way of waiting is a part of wisdom...Patience is often considered a key component of wisdom...A wise person understands that good things often take time, and they are able to control their impulses and wait for the right moment to act...They also recognize that some situations require perseverance and don't get discouraged by setbacks...But patience is not necessarily passivity...
Wisdom requires more than patience...Wisdom requires some knowledge, and other characteristics...While patience is important, wisdom encompasses a broader range of qualities...A wise person not only knows how to wait but also possesses good judgment, knowledge, and sound understanding...The Wise One can analyze situations, make well-informed decisions, take risks as best as they can see them, and know when to act and when to be patient...
Think about the Parable of the Sower...This parable focuses on the different outcomes of seeds sown on various types of soil...It emphasizes patience in the spiritual growth process...Just like some seeds take time to germinate and bear fruit, spiritual growth might not happen overnight...Patience and perseverance are necessary to nurture our faith...And in our patience of the growing seeds, we learn about how plants and crops grow...
When we think about the Parable of the Fig Tree we see patience in its message...The Parable of the Fig Tree tells the story of a fig tree that doesn't bear fruit...The owner considers cutting it down, but the caretaker asks for patience, suggesting one more year to see if it will produce fruit...This parable can be interpreted as a call for patience, encouraging us to give others a chance to improve or for things to change before giving up on them...
Think about the Parable of the Talents...The men who God entrusted had to have the knowledge of how money can grow, and how one must patiently wait for it to grow in value...With patience is important to avoid rash decisions, but wisdom would involve understanding the different investment options available, taking some risks and hopefully earning the rewards of their patience and knowledge...This Parable of the Talents is about a Master who entrusts his servants with wealth before going on a journey...The master is about to go on a long journey and entrusts his wealth to three servants...He gives five talents (a large sum of money) to one, two talents to another, and one talent to the last, according to each one's ability...The first two servants invest the money wisely and double their wealth...The third servant, out of fear, takes no risk and buries the talent in the ground and doesn't invest it...When the master returns, he calls the servants to account for their actions...He praises the first two servants for their wise investment and rewards them with even greater responsibility...He condemns the third servant for his laziness and takes away the one talent he had, giving it to the one who had the most...We learn a lesson from this Parable...The servant who buries the talent might be seen as acting out of impatience...Perhaps he lacked faith that the master would return, or he was too afraid of taking risks...Patience would have involved trusting the master's plan and using the talent wisely even during the waiting period and the uncertainty if the talent would grow...
The entire book of Job can be seen as a story about patience and perseverance...Job endures immense suffering but remains faithful to God...His story teaches us patience in the face of adversity and trusting in God's goodness even when we don't understand why things happen to us...Job endured and persisted, with patience...But as we read Job, we see that his patience and faith is tested as he questions God throughout the Book of Job...Job's continuing questioning of God could be seen as a form of patient persistence...He continues to seek God even in his pain, ultimately reaffirming his faith...And our questioning can be a part of our faith and can grow our faith...Perhaps genuine faith allows for asking questions and even wrestling with doubt...Job's story suggests that a mature faith can withstand challenges and questioning, while patiently having this persistence in our faith...True patience doesn't mean passive acceptance...It can involve actively seeking answers and understanding, even if it takes time...So patience is not necessarily passivity...Job, I believe, grew both in wisdom and patience as all the events played out in his life...
Think of patience as a muscle...It's essential for many activities, but to be a strong athlete, you need other muscles too...A runner cannot run with only leg muscles...A basketball player cannot shoot well with only hand and arm muscles...Similarly, patience is a crucial aspect of wisdom, but wisdom requires other qualities as well, as do our other muscle groups working together...
Overall, patience is a vital component of wisdom, but it's not the only one. A wise person is not only patient but also possesses good judgment, knowledge, and the ability to make sound decisions -and they learn through their patience...