Job 5:12

Who thwarts the devices of the crafty,

   So that their hands achieve no success.

I stayed up late to watch the Baylor game. Along the way, the little kid sounded dejected when it was certain I would not continue to watch movies she wanted to watch with her. My only interest in Baylor comes from interest in my wife who went to the game in person. I enjoy watching football, but not in person, not when I am force fed politics, and not when the Aggies are losing.

One of the issues I have with football right now is the crafty nature of those who now succeed. The linemen have learned to hold and not get caught (too much), the defensive backs have learned to hold or interfere without getting a flag (mostly), and coaches still try to get away with obvious high risk play calling. In this verse, The powers that be could clean up football, but apparently the almighty dollar says not to.

God is described as having the power to thwart the devices of the crafty. Alternatives for “thwart “were “frustrate”, “disappoint”, “spoil”, and “confound”. All were acceptable choices, so I went with the one that sounded cool. Alternatives for “devices” were “plans” and “designs”. Again, I went with the coolest word. The only alternative to “crafty” was “cunning” and I felt crafty had the more negative connotation.

Options for “achieve no success” were limited to “cannot carry out their plans”, “cannot perform their enterprise”, “Can do nothing clever”, and “not perform wisely”. None of these others carried the sense of “supernatural action” that I believe was intended.

I sometimes have concern that I will not be able to complete this study of Job. As I progress through the sources, I get a sense the authors were super gung ho in the beginning and eventually just wanted to be done. I am perfectly content to go a verse at a time and learn as much as I can in increments. I do not feel I am being crafty in the study by any means, but I feel the idea that maybe my plan for such a long study and ideas of what to do when done are being thwarted (by the devil). I feel that I need to be content with the day, and not get too emotionally bound up in the possibilities of the future. Make a plan, but do not get my whole sense of self tied up into accomplishing the plan, no matter how seemingly glorifying to God. He has my purposes set for me, and I need to be content to have faith that He will guide me in those paths.