You can shout all you want into thin air.  It won’t respond.  It’s safe.  To a lot of people, that is God–a vacuum into which you can bark your disapproval of Him with no reprisals.  You can get clever with your insults, creative, downright nasty.  That is, until the “vacuum” starts to talk back with overwhelming substantive content.  

With disclosures of wisdom too big for your brain.  

With virtue that outstrips your own.  

With personhood.  

That’s what started happening in Job chapter 38.  The grumbling main character had waxed eloquent for a long time, making an airtight case for how God had misjudged Him.   Then God had interrupted. 

Two chapters later, and God signals His intention to continue the interruption:  

“And the Lord said to Job:  ‘Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?  He who argues with God, let him answer it.’  Then Job answered the Lord and said:  ‘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 40:1-5).

Hand over mouth.  Good idea.

Some people have never in their lives allowed God to interrupt them.  They’ve been too busy raging against Him in their books and podcasts.

Then, after they’ve made their case (sometimes for decades), the “delusion,” or, “religious fiction,” or whatever they have branded Him, talks back.  For the first time, they’re quiet.   

It’s not that God has never tried to reach them.  He has messengers.  Admittedly, some of them don’t do a good job of speaking on His  behalf (like Job’s three friends).  They seem to muddy the water more than anything else.  But there’s always that one (Elihu) who becomes a veritable mouthpiece for the Almighty.  In fact, when God finally shows up, He essentially recycles what the one friend already said. 

At any rate, “the kindness of God leads you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4), meaning that unless He interrupts our arrogance (as he did with Job), we will hold out until the Great Day of Judgement to be humbled.  

That’s not a good strategy.

If you’re going to gripe about God and how He runs the universe, make sure you give Him plenty of room to respond.