Up until chapter 38 God has been relatively silent throughout this whole process. This is hard for us to accept or understand but God often does His best work in the midst of silence. It forces us to depend upon Him, look to Him for wisdom, and run to Him in fear and awe. If we always heard His voice, we would never seek His face as David writes in Psalm 27:8-9. It is in these times that God exposes the lies and sin of our heart and what we are really depending on. Though Job sought to look to God, he did it imperfectly because he, like us, was an imperfect human being.
God, out of love for Job, in chapter 38 spoke. This must have been incredibly comforting to hear the voice of God but incredibly convicting at what He said. He reminded Job that He was in control. He reminded Job that He was over it all. He showed Job that, though he was trying, some part of him was looking to Himself instead of God.
God continues His monologue in chapter 39 as He continues to cite creation to show His sovereignty, wisdom, trustability, and transcendence, calling Job to look to Him and trust Him, not himself.
We looked at this recently at Center Point through the lens of Proverbs 3:5-8 where God tells us to TRUST Him, LEAN on Him, ACKNOWLEDGE Him, and to NOT be WISE in our OWN eyes but instead FEAR Him. This is the same thing that God is calling Job to do. This is simultaneously the hardest thing in the human experience and the most freeing. God is a Good Father. We can trust Him.
- How do you tend to take control of things going on in your life?
- What holds you back from trusting God completely?
By: Nick Parsons — Pastoral Ministry Associate: College
JumpstartCPC.com 
Good word today Nick! Historically it is believed that approximately 400 years passed between the Old and New Testaments when God was silent. He began to speak again with the appearance of John the Baptist. It has been my experience in life that when God is silent He is calling us to an even deeper walk with Him. After a period of silence we are eager to hear His voice again. Can you imagine how those who faithfully followed God must have felt when John the Baptist emerged from the silence? My prayer today is that we hunger to hear the voice of God like those faithful generations who waited four centuries. Thanks again for the commentary Nick!
Thank you so much!!!
I love your thought about the 400 years so true!
When I think about God being silent, I am reminded of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha had asked Jesus to heal their brother. But then…silence… Jesus didn’t come. He came later, when it was too late (they thought). Had Jesus answered right away, their relationship would not have grown. They would have seen Jesus do something they already knew He could do. But because of the silence, they were then able to experience something new in their relationship: Jesus raising the dead.
We can be encouraged in God’s silence. He may be preparing us for something new and greater!
Thank you so much!
Great point about Lazarus.