Your arms are too short to box with God.

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Back in the 1980s, a Broadway musical based on the Gospel of Matthew was entitled, “Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.” In Job Chapter 40, God asked the patriarch, “Do you have an arm like God?” God was responding to Job’s questions about his suffering. With God’s permission, Satan took away Job’s family, wealth, and health. Friends tried to persuade Job that he was suffering because of his sins. Job insisted he had not sinned. He longed to have an audience with God, certain that God would vindicate him. God finally appeared, but instead of explaining to Job why he was suffering, God posed dozens of questions Job could not answer. God’s first questions helped Job see that God was clearly Lord over all creation. God knew and did things Job could never fathom. A second set of questions helped Job realize that God not only controlled the physical world, He is also Lord over the moral world—a God of justice who will call beings to account for their actions. They may seem to be getting away with murder, but the God of the universe decides when and how to judge them for their actions. This truth should encourage anyone who thinks God overlooks injustice. God wanted Job, and us, to know that our arms are too short to fathom His wisdom and ways. Our best bet is to submit to Him and His Son, and live according to His will.