Throughout the Bible we see that the only people who receive anything from God are those with a humble and contrite heart. If we think we have something to offer God, if we think He needs our achievements or our worthless-as-rags righteousness, then our God is too small. He is not God enough. We haven’t learned to recognize His majesty and glory. If we come to God in our own self-sufficiency, proud of the “good life” we have lived, then we have cut ourselves off from the true knowledge of god. We fail miserably when we substitute the mediocrity of what we would call a good life for the far superior glory of a perfect life lived on our behalf by our Savior, Jesus. We come to Him empty-handed, humble, broken, teachable, and sorrowful for our sins that separate us from God, then God will lift us by His power and grace and restore us to citizenship and service in His kingdom.

Reflection
The story of Job seems to highlight Elihu’s youth compared to that of the others. What wisdom did you acquire as a young person? What wisdom have you acquired as an adult? Do you believe wisdom can only come with age? Job has felt as if God randomly was punishing him. Have you ever felt like God was punishing you? How might God have been using that suffering to prevent sin, or for some other reason, rather than punishing you for it? Elihu talked about the unknowable nature of God. What are some of the things that help you see God’s greatness? How does that affect the way you live out your faith?