Whom are you trusting today? Politicians strut about, making all sorts of promises, but Job reminds us that God “pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong” (12:21). Professors and scientists try to impress us with their research, but God “deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders” (12:20). We look to the courts to settle many of our problems, but God makes “fools” of judges (12:17).

For years, we Americans have been looking to these sorts of experts to manage our society and solve our problems. But are we really satisfied with their solutions? Do we have the happiness and the prosperity and the safety they have promised us? In spite of our technological advances, how healthy is our culture?

In contrast, Job calls all these experts’ qualifications into question. Instead, he insists that God is the only One Who has true “wisdom and might,” true “counsel and understanding” (12:13). But at the same time, he confesses over and over again that he doesn’t understand why God is letting him suffer. He continues to look to God, even though God has allowed everything he has held dear to be taken away from him.

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face (13:15).” That’s Job’s position – he won’t give up trusting in God, but at the same time, he won’t stop trying to understand God’s ways. He keeps on praying for answers, and he keeps on pleading for justice, but he refuses to look to anyone or anything else to satisfy him.

And that’s what faith really is. It’s not about having all the answers – it’s about holding on to the One Who does, even when He doesn’t tell us what we want to know. Do we have that kind of faith?

Job 12:13-25 (ESV)

13 “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
14 If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.
15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16 With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.
18 He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
19 He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.
20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.
23 He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25 They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.