The Problem of Pain - When God speaks

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Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
(Job 38:1-2)

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
(Job 42:5)

As we read through the book of Job and see the persistence of this man, one can only marvel at his willingness to not buckle under the pressure being put on him. It is humbling to view Job in light of today's Christian experience. Void of teachers, scripture, and even the necessity of the Mosaic law, Job depended on his day to day experiential knowledge of God. Because of the nearness of his walk to the one, true God, Job is able to consistently answer his friends who feel that he has committed some heinous sin or shortcoming worthy of such affliction. Yet, with his bedrock faith, perserverance, and knowledge of God, he, like us all, still wants God to speak clearly into his situation. When an answer to his calls do not come, frustration ensues and with it accusations made out of distress. Earlier in the book Job cursed the day he was conceived, born, and pleas with God to come and justify him. Truly Job in its content is truly poetic, stating the heart of men regardless of belief, and pointing to man's fragile nature, emotionally, psychologically, and physically. But it is within Job's (and our's) ranting for verification, justification, and answers to suffering that interests me. When God finally answers Job, he speaks from a whirlwind. A whirlwind (tornado, hurricane, funnel-cloud, tempest, etc.) is not designed to completely obliterate an edifice, but will destroy everything down to the foundation, that is if the foundation is stable. In Job's case, his foundation is strong. In spite of his wealth and favor from God, he does not hesitate to reverence God for what he has been so richly blessed with and in the midst of everything being stripped, says that if he accepts the good from God, will he just not accept the bad from him. Job is a man built upon a solid foundation of belief in God and his ability to be God, yet the "structure" which has grown has caused him to question why. The book of Job lets us know that their is nothing unrighteous in asking, but the question for us as believers is, are we prepared for when God speaks? I have questioned things that are allowed to go on in this world, from my own shortcomings to the shortcomings of others to natural calamities. I have sought answers for such things, sometimes even upset with God. In the 38th - 42nd chapters of Job, we find out just what occurs when God speaks. Using my own questioning of God as the context for explanation I will try to elucidate what occurs in this passage. In questioning the natural order of things, the good, the bad, and uglies of life, man is tempted to question God's administration. In so doing, we do two things, we imply that our way of getting to a result is better and God may not have the power to answer such pleas to begin with. The beauty of God speaking to Job out of the whirlwind is no clear answers are given. God creates a paradox in Job's experience, one where God answers, but He doesn't, where he clarifies the questions, yet creates deeper questions within Job's mind, and thus emerges the connundrum of Job being faced with either doubting the ability of the only one able to vindicate him fully or trusting in his own ability to vindicate himself, which thus far has proven extremely unsuccessful in 37 chapter of the book of Job.
As this relates to us, our finite minds cannot climb far enough out of the hole of this life to see the totality of what God has done in just His creation. How then will we be able to see clearly the picture that the Master Painter has so exquisitely framed before the foundation of the world. We ask questions seeking answers, but if God were to speak to us on the level that we wish to understand, would we leave the conversation enlightened, or more confused? Job is answered in a series of questions. The questions he is asked represents an depth of knowledge that no man can concoct a valid answer for. How can man go to the gates and shadows of the realm of death and hell and live to tell about it? How can he know what the earth rests on in space. Oh, the majesty of God! It is the duty of man to understand God's sovereignty. He reigns supreme over every individual, locale, mindset, influence, spirit, dimension, and reasoning. For one to not trust what he has spoken (His will) is to be darkened by ones own knowledge. The thing that happens when God speaks is revealed from the beginning. For when He speaks, what He proclaims to be so is so, whether good or bad in our sight, but we must be assured that if He spoke it into being, it is placed in our midst for purpose and as a part of the total picture, the answers to the questions posed by a sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient God.