I am just like Job's friends

Going through the book of Job slowly is helping me to recognize a painful truth: I am just like Job's friends, and I had no clue.

According to Job's friends, God and this world are simple. If you do A, then God is forced to do B. If you do right, then everything should end up right for you. There is immediate justice and reward in this world. The righteous are vindicated, and the wicked are punished always.

I know the formula. In fact, without realizing it I too often believe this formula. 

We homeschool. We gave time and money towards discipling our kids more intensely. Therefore, my children should be more on fire for the Lord than… because they didn't homeschool.

I eat healthier therefore, my body should look better.

I work out harder. I lift weights. I should look better.

My husband works so hard, we should be better off financially.

Do you hear the formula? I did this, therefore God should do that!

But the world is not so simple, and God is not a vending machine where you put in a quarter and get out a treat, or a math equation that can eventually be figured out. 

God is God. That's one point of the book of Job. I'm allowed to question, to wonder, even wrestle and ask why. But at the end of the day, He is God.

That doesn't excuse me from obedience, or excuse me from continuing to take care of myself and my family. But the outcomes of all of it belong to God, not to me.

Praise the Lord, His mercies are new every morning. He knows I need them.