priscilla du preez lipube3 deq unsplash

Who Argues With God?

Job 40:1-2 -- And the LORD said to Job: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

I’m a good arguer. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tamed some of my argumentative ways, but I’ve had some doozies in my lifetime. I think I passed this gene to my youngest daughter, Kyra. She loves to argue too. My mom is an arguer. My sister is an arguer. It is in the genes. But the one argument we should never have is with God. The Bible warns us of this. 

In our passage today, we see God respond to Job after he attempted to question God on some things in his life. We see God’s response in Job 40:1-2, “And the LORD said to Job: ‘Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.’”

Notice first that God’s response is about whether or not Job is actually going to contend with the Almighty. Job is a human. He is a peon. God is the Almighty, maker of everything. The LORD is God and there is none like Him. Yet Job is going to put Him on the witness stand? This isn’t smart. God then says that the one who wants to argue with God must answer for it. Job is about to be put on the witness stand to give an account to God instead of the opposite. 

Why is arguing with God inadvisable and unwise? First, because we are sinners. We are debtors to God and are unrighteous. We do not even have a right to access God because of our sins. Second, because arguing would imply that we are right about something and God is wrong (or at best misguided). This is silliness. We are finite creatures with limited understanding. God is infinite and possesses all wisdom. Rather than arguing with God, Christians should humbly submit to Him in all things. It’s okay to share where we hurt, how we don’t understand, or what we’d like to see God do, but to argue is folly. We must trust the wisdom of the LORD even when it confounds ours.


Reflection & Journal: 
- What are the reasons why we should not argue with God?
- Why do so many argue with God?
- How should we respond when we feel the temptation to argue and raise our fist at God?


Sign up to receive our daily devotions in your inbox here!