Here at the middle point of the book of Job we have an interlude that reminds us what this book is all about: it is about wisdom. We haven’t seen wisdom emerge yet in the story, but the scene has been set. Wisdom is like those precious minerals that are found in the deepest darkest places in the earth; the places where the heat and pressure is great. Job’s experience is very much like this. He is being crushed and scorched in a very dark place. It is under these conditions that we will see wisdom emerge. The writer reminds us in his interlude that wisdom cannot be purchased. You can’t gain it from books. It can be expressed in words and the way to it can be marked out, but each person must gain wisdom for themselves. And it is in the darkest places that the light of wisdom shines the brightest. It is in the midst of the pressure and pain of life that wisdom is gained. Solomon reminds us that wisdom is supremely valuable and that we should, “Get wisdom though it cost all you have” (Proverbs 4:7). And indeed it is costly. It is gained when life is at its hardest; when we are stripped back to nothing; when we are emptied and shaken; when all our worldly hopes are dashed. Is it worth it? Only the person who has it knows, and those biblical writers who found it tell us it is worth infinitely more than all they paid to gain it. Do you want wisdom? What is it worth to you?
Ask God for wisdom.
Read Job 28
