Job vs God, a lesson in un-practicalness

God gives us a very practical scenario in the book of Job. Here is a man that is holy and blameless, and God has blessed him. Satan comes along and is given permission by God to test Job's righteousness.After all the death and destruction that Satan throws against Job, now his friends turn on him. They know the truth, and by golly they're going to scream the truth at Job until they're blue in the face! As far as they're concerned, there's only one practical reason for Job's calamity. Sin! There's no time here for sympathy. No time for heartfelt sorrow that their friend is going through such a time. Strike while the iron is hot, right! Hit 'em hard and hit 'em fast! Job's friends are going to squeeze his sin out of him!It actually makes some sense. Job is being punished for some terrible sin. Why else would God put him through such heartache and pain? Why else would Job be sitting in a pile of ashes, licking his sores and wounds? Why else would a man of such prominence be reduced to such rubble? It HAS to be sin!And yet anyone who has read the storey of Job knows the truth. We know that Job didn't sin. On the contrary, he was blameless! And, although some may find it shocking, how can we not empathize with him when he wonders what the point of being holy really is if he is dealt the same or worse fate than evil men. He is human. A human looking for a practical answer from a holy God.Job wants a practical reason for his state. His friends all believe that they HAVE the practical reason, but Job knows different. But what does he actually get in the end?Rebuked. By God himself.Was he wrong? Did he sin? No. But he did question God's ability and love. He questioned God's holiness from his human, practical point of view. And God really lets him have it. Where were you, Job, when the world was created? Where were you when I hung the stars? God puts Job in his place. You are but a mere being, a speck, nothing more. Do not regard yourself so highly as to think you could come before me and plead your case!Did Job get his "practical" answer he wanted? Nope. Until the day of his death, it was never revealed to him why he was put through such a time. But it was revealed to him that he was small, and God was great. Job came through the testing stronger and God blessed him even more than before. But never, as far as was recorded, was Job's desire for a practical reason ever fulfilled.