(God) knows the way he takes;
when he has tried me,
I shall come out as gold (Job 23:10)].
"(God) knows the way I take," the traditional translation of the first line of this text, has been an encouragement to many, and is patently true (John 2: 24).
It's likely however, that Job had another thought in mind. The text reads literally, "He knows the way with me," i.e., the way he takes with me. Put another way, God knows what he’s doing.
Previously, Job had wondered if God did know what he was doing (7:18). Now he rests in the assurance that his suffering is purposeful. His trials are the means by which God is refining his soul, turning it into 24 karat gold.
So I, with Job, can accept my small adversities cheerfully, secure in the knowledge that God’s outcome will be the best of all outcomes for me.
F.B. Meyer wrote, "There is no clue to the understanding of the mysteries of our mortal life, save the hypothesis, that we are being prepared for the position which has been prepared for us in the eternal world." Or, as Paul has said. “Our light affliction, which is for the moment, is working for us an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
You can count on it: God knows what he's doing.
David Roper
10.6.21
