How Much Do We Really Know?

Scripture Verse that Caught my Attention today: Job 16:2 “I have heard many such things;
miserable comforters are you all.

Observation: Sometimes our presence is more important and helpful than anything we can say.

Application: First, although I write these entries primarily as part of my own spiritual discipline, those who are reading it are really encouraged to read chapters 21-23 of Acts. I’m not reflecting on that particular reading today, but it really is a great story and I hope you check it out.

Okay, back to the verse above from Job that caught my attention today. There is a saying that goes something like this: “After being in Africa for a week, I felt like I could write a book about the culture. After being in Africa for a month, I felt like I could perhaps write a chapter about the culture. After being in Africa for a year, I struggled to even come up with a paragraph about the culture.”

I find that adage to be true, not only about Africa, but also about many other things in life. At the beginning things are oversimplified and we sometimes think we know much more than we actually do. With more and more experience we see the deeper layers of meaning and begin to realize that things are not always simple as they seem.

Job was further along in the experience than his ‘friends.’ They thought they had all the ‘answers,’ but Job was concentrating more on figuring out what might be the right questions. Rather than acknowledging the reality of his situation, they wanted to quickly assign and compartmentalize a little blame, offer a simple prescription for success, and get on with their lives with a confident pat on their own backs for solving yet another problem on another day.

Had they really entered into his experience and spent some time dwelling in his reality, they probably would have come up with less to say, but it would have counted far more. In fact, they might have found that they had nothing to say, yet their presence (in body and/or in spirit) might have meant the world.

Prayer: Lord, in a world where we are often expected (or want!) to offer the quick fix, help us be patient enough to simply enter into the world in which we are placed and the dwell there in light of the hope that can only be found in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Job 16 and Acts 21-23)