Elihu begins his words to Job by asking him why he accuses God of being silent. Job had cried for answers to his suffering. He demanded a reason from God. God did not explain himself to Job so Job explodes with a tirade of challenges to God to speak up and tell him what he did to deserve such suffering. When God again fails to explain himself to Job, Job accuses God of silence. Elihu says that God does speak, “God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.”
God is always speaking to us. Our problem is that we aren’t often listening. The Scriptures teach us that God is always at work around us. God pursues a continuing love relationship with us that is real and personal. God is always inviting us to become involved with Him in His work. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways to each of us. God’s invitation for us to work with Him always seems to lead us to a crisis that requires faith and action. We often don’t like the action that is called for when we hear God speak. We are most often like Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit. When Gandalf called him to his great adventure, he was stunned and said, “Adventure? Oh no! Adventures make one late for dinner.”
When God speaks we must make major adjustments in our life in cooperation with the Holy Spirit in changing us into the likeness of His Son! I hate change! But God wants us to give up our selfish focus and join Him in what He is doing. I find that we can only truly come to know God by experience through the revelation of Himself in His Son on the cross. God will talk to us when we obey His word, when we worship Him in spirit and in truth, when we serve others with the gifts He has given us, and when we commit ourselves to His plan and purpose for our lives.
Chuck
“I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” (Job 42:5)