Ever hear someone say, “I wish I could start over again, knowing what I know now”? An understandable desire, but that’s not how it works. We all start “young and dumb.” We make our mistakes and we grow wiser in the process; experience is a great teacher! That’s the sad reality of how life works: One has to be little before he can grow big.

After Job’s life came apart – when his wealth was gone and his kids were dead and Job’s body was covered in boils – Job was frustrated because he didn’t understand why God allowed all the tragedy and suffering. Job felt like God owed him, at least, an explanation. So in Job 13:3 (NIV), Job said, “…I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.” Job seems confident that, when God learns all the facts, God will rule in his favor and right the wrongs. Job probably didn’t intend to sound arrogant but arrogance resides in his request.

God responded to Job’s request and agreed to speak with Job. But before God can explain himself, Job will need to demonstrate his ability to understand by answering some questions: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?” God asks in Job 38:2-3. “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me”. God then helps Job understand how small and ignorant he really was, not nearly big enough or wise enough to question God: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?” “Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?” Job’s inability to answer those basic questions belied his inability to understand God’s wisdom in running the universe.

Thousands of years later, humanity is still learning from God’s design of His creation.

A woodpecker bangs his head against a tree about 20 times per second with a force 10 times greater than a concussion-inducing NFL tackle, but the woodpecker doesn’t suffer in the process. In fact, the woodpecker is designed for it! The modern-day version of the hard football helmet was developed by researchers who carefully studied the shape of the woodpecker’s head and beak. Dr. David Smith has now carried the idea further, noting that carbon dioxide helps prevent brain swelling and that woodpeckers show a slightly higher concentration of carbon dioxide in their brains than other species. With that in mind, Dr. Joseph Fisher, an anesthesiologist, designed a neck brace for players that places a light pressure on the jugular vein, slightly increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the player’s brain. Sensors were then placed in players’ helmets to measure the impact. By the end of the season, the players averaged 800 impacts greater than 20Gs in force. (There are 30 Gs of force in a head-on collision at 30 mph.) While there was some evidence of brain injury in the kids without the neck braces, there was almost no evidence of injury in those players who wore the collars. Woodpeckers can teach us!

Scientists know that honeybees help other bees find pollen for the honey by doing a little flying dance. Researchers don’t yet know how that first honeybee puts his dance together or how the other bees correctly interpret the dance and follow the directions for their own pollen run. There must be some kind of “bee language,” but humans can’t speak it yet. We don’t understand all of God’s creation!

That’s why Job’s request to argue his case before God was arrogant. Until the basics are understood, who was Job (who are we?) to presume to tell God how His universe should be run? In his book, In the Eye of the Storm, author Max Lucado says, “Job is an illiterate, telling e. e. cummings how to capitalize. Job is the batboy telling Babe Ruth to change his hitting stance.”

When life isn’t going the way we want or expect, it’s tempting to question what God is doing, or at least to wonder if God is paying enough attention to notice the havoc He’s allowing. But Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

So we wouldn’t understand anyway. Think small.

Mark Wilmoth is with Pinehurst Christian Church in Marietta and can be reached at Minister@PinehurstChristianChurch.org