"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further."
Job 40:3-5
God answered Job's prayer. He gave Job an unprecedented audience with the Almighty. But it was not the kind of thing that Job had envisioned. He had hoped to defend himself and protest his circumstances. But God arrives on the scene with bracing questions. He warns Job that he had better be a man when answering God's questions.
The first reality that struck Job comes in God's clear statement that Job spoke and questioned only with a finite and limited knowledge of the ways of God. God then elaborates on what it is to be God by spending the bulk of His questions on mankind's inability to deal with the natural world and the forces of the universe. All of which are neatly in the control of Almighty God. Job cannot deal with even one of the questions that God brings to him, let alone the barrage of ever more complex natural processes about which God reminds Job.
Job's response is to make a simple promise: he would in human humility not say a word because he was so miniscule compared to God. He promises silence as God continues to drive home the point of His power. That was the lesson God had for Job in this trial: God is awesome in power, even in our losses.
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