Fickle or Faithful?

“You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit” —Job 10:12, NIV.

This tiny ray of light appears in the middle of a long list of complaints that Job expressed to God as he went through some of the toughest times of any man’s life.

How true to human nature is his example. How easy it is to forget the one truth that should hold us close when our world collapses around us.

I guess the question we all end up asking ourselves is whether or not we really believe that the God who gave us life, showed us kindness and watched over our spirit in the past, would suddenly turn against us. Do we believe that God is always consistent? True to form? Of steady character?

In the dark places of our lives, we sometimes think he has suddenly become fickle, deciding out of the blue to be vindictive, petty, or mean. Like Job, we don’t understand him all that well, nor do we understand the reasons for why his does what he does in our lives.

This is where faith comes into play, where “the rubber hits the road.” God has given us life, shown us kindness and watched over our spirit. He still gives us life, shows us kindness and watches over our spirit. He always will—even when he allows us to go through difficult times.

I pray that my “complaint” would be, not that he is less than faithful, but that I am not as full of faith as I should be. I pray that my request would be, not for fairness from him, but for me to be fair toward him, to not accuse him of being and doing what is not consistent with his nature.

To trust—even when I don’t understand.