by: Dr. Allen Domelle
Job 40:3-4
“Then Job answered the LORD, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.”
Have you ever had a computer that seemed to get sluggish or freeze up? The internet company I have used for several years initially gave me a router when I signed up with their company. After using the router for several months, my wife and I noticed the internet seemed to be freezing up and was very sluggish as we tried to go to websites. I called the customer service department to get a technician to help, and every time they would come to a point where they would tell me to unplug the router and try it again. By unplugging the router, it reset the system and cleared the junk out of its memory so that it could run properly.
There are times when Christians need to unplug themselves and have a spiritual reboot. Job came across one of these times in his life when God finally had to help him unplug himself and have a spiritual reboot. You can see the reboot happen in Job 38-41. For several chapters, God demanded Job to answer several questions to which he had no answer. When God paused in the verses above, all Job could do and say was, “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.” The final result of Job’s reboot is found in Job 42:6 where he says, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Several indicators show that you need a spiritual reboot.
First, when you begin thinking that you know everything, you need a spiritual reboot. God asked in Job 38:2, “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” It can become easy to get to the point when you think you have the answer for everything. When your first response to every question in life is to run to your knowledge base instead of God’s, you need a spiritual reboot. It’s not that you don’t know the answer, but you really don’t know without God’s input. You need to trust God for the knowledge needed for every situation.
Second, when you think you can do anything on your own, you need a spiritual reboot. God asked Job several times, “Canst thou,” or “Who can.” God wanted Job to realize that as much as he thought he could do things on his own, he still needed God’s help. You may have become proficient at what you do, and you may be the best at what you do, but you still need God’s help. When you begin daily projects without asking God for His help, you need a spiritual reboot.
Third, when you think highly of yourself and want people to see you, you need a spiritual reboot. It was when God revealed Himself to Job that he finally saw his true self. This is why Job said in the verse above, “Behold, I am vile…” This is why he said in Job 42:6, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” His spiritual reboot caused him to see how powerless he was and how vile that even his righteousnesses were.
The only way you are going to have a spiritual reboot is to see God daily. You can only do this by unplugging yourself from everyday’s activities and spending time in the Scriptures and prayer. Don’t go to the Scriptures to prove your spirituality, but go to them as a blank sheet of paper and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you need to correct. Your spiritual reboot will happen when you see God as Who He is, and yourself as vile as you truly are.