Job 20:1-3 (ESV)

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

“Therefore my thoughts answer me,

because of my haste within me.

I hear censure that insults me,

and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.

This is Zophar’s second response to Job. Like Bildad, Zophar’s response is prompted by his own ego. “I hear censure that insults me,” he says.  When did this become about Bildad or Zophar? Zophar’s whole argument is that bad things happen to bad people. His implication is that if bad things are happening to Job, then Job must be bad. That’s been said over and over by Job’s friends. What is fascinating in this chapter is that Zophar answers out of his own feeling of being insulted, and out of his own understanding.

Zophar says, “out of my understanding a spirit answers me.” Shouldn’t that raise an eyebrow? His thoughts are spinning even before he begins to speak. Then, apparently a spirit speaks to him. Does he mean that his own spirit is speaking, or is he referring to an angel or demon? Why is a spirit answering Zophar out of his own understanding? Wouldn’t you expect that if a spirit or angel from God is speaking that you would learn something new? Why is it that this spirit only affirms what Zophar already thinks?

It is amazing what people do not see when they are not expecting to see anything, or what they do see when they expect to see something. I have a video I show people in some of my classes. Most people miss the most obvious things in the video because they are looking for something else. The same is true about God and his word. How often we pray and read the word only to find exactly what we already knew! We don’t learn. We don’t grow. We just affirm what we already think. That is the height of arrogance. It is self-focus, not God focus. It is reading through our own egos. Like Zophar, we hear what we already think. The spirit speaks out of our own understanding.

When we come to the Word of God…when we come to God in prayer, we need to come with humility, not ego. We need to come listening well. We need to come with no axe to grind, nor position to defend, but with a heart inclined to hear from God. If you go looking for verses to defend your position, you will find them. If you come with an open heart God might teach you, stretch you, and give you a fresh perspective.

We are not talking about embracing heresy or immorality. We are not talking about opening our minds to whatever comes along. But we need to stop putting God in a nice comfortable box where he meets my needs, fits with my expectations, and keeps me feeling comfortable. He is not a safe God, but he is a good God. He is not a finite God. He is infinite. He is not a God limited by my knowledge and experience. I need to stop hearing what I expect him to say, and actually listen. I need to get out of the way and let God speak. Father, open my heart and mind today. Help me to hear.

Open our ears, Lord

And help us to listen
Open our eyes, Lord
We want to see Jesus
                        Maranatha Singers