Job 28:12-28

“But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?” (v.12) “God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens” (vv.23-24).

God sees the big picture. I was recently watching a hilarious movie – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I love this movie because it is extremely random. I like random comedy, the kind of comedy that demands you pay attention to it, and often calls you to watch it again to pick up on something else that you probably missed the first time through. At the beginning of the movie, the main character, Arthur Dent, is trying to prevent a team of bulldozers from demolishing his house to make way for a bypass, because “you have to have bypasses,” says the foreman. Ford Prefect is Arthur’s friend who is in reality an alien (I’m not giving anything away here, it happens in the first ten minutes). Because Arthur once saved Ford from getting hit by a car, Ford decides that he wants to save Arthur’s life from the impending destruction of Earth to make way for an intergalactic bypass. So in the beginning of the movie, all Arthur really sees is the small picture, what is revealed right in front of him. Ford actually takes Arthur to a pub to tell him what is about to happen, and Arthur still does not believe it until he sees the Vogon destructor ship, when his worldview is greatly altered. Suddenly, Arthur is thrust into a whole other world that he never even knew existed. He finally gets to see a bigger piece of the picture.

This is amazingly a whole lot like what we experience as Christians. We think we have things figured out, but then we are told things like, “To gain you life, you have to lose it,” and “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” It doesn’t seem to make sense. It does not fit into our worldview. But God sees the bigger picture. It is only through death that we can live. We have to die to ourselves to truly find life. Can we find wisdom in this? Not by secular means. Life is meaningless unless we first die to Christ.

I heard the other day that if all memory of the other major world religions (i.e. Islam, Hinduism, Buddism) were to be wiped off the face of the earth, they would all come back because they are based on human reasoning and thought. Christianity, however, is the exception. Christianity is not something that can be contrived through human reasoning. It doesn’t make sense. Christianity is not made up from the wisdom of man, but from the wisdom of God, the one true God, Creator and Sustainer. We cannot find true wisdom in the other major religions of the world. They may have some interesting thoughts about life, but that does not make them wise. In vv. 13-19, there is a litany of precious items that cannot compare to wisdom, they cannot buy it or surpass it. Wisdom is said to be “hidden from the eyes of every living thing” (v. 21). Wisdom is found only in God. God is found only through Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is not something that humanity could have though up on its own. God sees the big picture.

Just some musings from a traveling pilgrim.