Complaint

Diplodocus
©2004 Wikipedia

"Shall we indeed accept good from God's hand and not evil?"

Sometimes we receive evil from God's hand. We may either accept the evil or reject it. My favorite ways to reject it are depression and self-pity. (How cheerless my life would be without them.) And when the evil comes, we form our complaints. Some of us speak them. Some of us bury them. God hears all of them.

As Orual does in Lewis's Till We Have Faces, we stand before our Judge and read our books of complaints. We read and we read until we become aware of how selfish, foolish, and naked we are. We realize that we stand before the One whose name is too wonderful for us. The One whose sandals we are unworthy to tie. The One who spoke the universe into being. Who calls the stars by name. The One who redeemed mankind. The One who breathed life into us and sustains us. Who gives us rest each night. Who causes us to wake each morning. The One who builds our homes and watches our cities. Who provides. The One, the only One, who is faithful. Who keeps his promises toward us, promises that are greater and more glorious than our minds can contain. The One who holds the oceans in the palm of his hand. Who measures the heavens with his fingers. The One who fashioned the joints and sinews of Diplodocus. The only One who could approach and subdue Leviathan. The One who was and is and forever will be.

That was Job's answer. And it was sufficient for him.