Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.
Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
Job 37:14-18 NIV
As Elihu neared the end of his dialog, he challenged Job to consider God’s wonders, pointing him to the clouds. And he asked Job, do you know how the clouds work and how the lightning flashes from them? Are you capable of replicating the sky God created?
Many today would laugh at Elihu’s words here. Of course, we know how clouds and lightning work. And we know that the sky is not a solid surface that the clouds move around on. But that misses the point of what Elihu is saying to Job.
God has given us the intelligence to figure out some of what he has done. And some of it we can copy. I would hesitate to claim that some aspect of the creation is beyond our eventual understanding. And, if we last long enough, we will probably be able to do things that would amaze us today.
Replicating God’s Wonders
But will humanity ever be able to design and produce a universe like what we see around us today? From nothing? Will we ever be able to produce life, consciousness, and intelligence? Again, from nothing? I think not.
God is beyond our human understanding. And his wonders are beyond our ability to replicate. And so, as Elihu tells Job, it is foolish for us to question God as if he has made a mistake and we could do better. Instead, we should trust that God knows what he is doing.
Nothing that happens catches God by surprise. And nothing happens that he does not use to further his purpose in creation. And in the lives of his people. Even when our human reason tells us nothing good can come out of it. So, instead of complaining when faced with life’s challenges, we should learn to praise God for using those challenges to help us grow (Rom. 8:28).