18 “I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts”.
(ASV) "...that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts". That God may prove (test) them, Job tells us that "God tries man every moment of the day" (Job 7:18). Through the injustices of life, through the pressures God exposes hidden flaws in mans character. Through this testing He reveals "That they themselves are beasts". So, why does God need to do this work in each of us? Why is it that He needs to try us and put into difficult circumstances? The truth of the matter is this that we would most likely never seek to be rid of our burdens if we did not see them.
God dealt with righteous Job because He needed him to see a certain flaw in his character (self righteousness) that was hindering a deeper walk with the Lord. The Lord needed Job to see it in the same light He Himself saw it, He needed him to despise it and seek the Lord for cleansing. There were many attributes in the life of Job that were outstanding and very good; the only way to expose this hidden nature was to remove his goodness and expose this one hidden flaw. Many times man will excuse flaws in their character because of a weight of evidence that shows they do very well in other areas.
The rich young ruler is an example of this truth; he could not appreciate what Jesus was saying to him, the flaw He was addressing when He said (out of compassion) “One thing thou lackest” (Mark 10:17-22). This ruler placed all of his good works on the scale in his mind and let them override the one flaw. During Job’s trial he did not see the flaw; in fact at one point he said “I wish knew where to find Him; I would fill my mouth with arguments and He would listen to me” (Job 23:3-6). However, once the trial was over and Job understood clearly what God was after then he said: “I have heard of you with the hearing of the ear but now my eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).
There are things God cannot just explain to us, He must almost prove them to us. Did God only want to put Job down and make him acknowledge his flaw? Certainly not! God’s ways are just and His design for Job was that He would put him into a posture whereby He could pour upon him the double portion! His design was to reveal and removed a deep flaw from his character so He would have no reason to with hold this blessing.
What is God doing in your life today; please do not misjudge the Lord or misinterpret what He is doing. “For I know the thoughts I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jer 29:29). Let us not think harshly of the Lord and His methods just because He is revealing deep flaws in our nature; He is a good God and actually He is qualifying us for a greater understanding of Him, of His ways and making us worthy of deeper communion with Him.
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