January 30 - Job 38:1-40:5

Good morning everyone,

Before I say anything else today, because I don’t want to get wrapped up in my writing and forget to mention, that when God speaks to us, to you, to me, it is the single best thing in the whole wide world. I am not talking the “direction” kind of talk that you get from the Bible which is usually confirmed by another source and is indeed awesome, but I am talking about that unmistakable voice of God, His gentle whisper in you ear that gives you goose bumps, that is such a rare and unique treasure delivered to us only on very special occasions. It is so subtle, like gold dust sprinkled through the sky yet is always unmistakable and it is always with such clarity, it always stops me in my tracks, I don’t want to breathe I just want to relish in it. When He is through speaking I am left feeling incredibly humbled. It is this wisp of fragrance in the wind, this tiny sliver of matchless time that I know eternity in heaven will be full of. Oh happy days.

Anyway, today in our reading we have come to the point in the story where Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu have exhausted their effort to convince Job to repent from the sin that has caused all this grief in his life, while Job has listened, spoke and maintained his innocence. Now, as they sit there the wind picks up, it is just a breeze at first but it quickly gains speed coaxing Job’s  attention. I can  imagine Job looking up, perhaps with a puzzled look on his face wondering about this sudden change in weather as the wind gains speed. I envision a tornado type funnel, huge and powerful dancing at their feet, their hair whipping about, them clinging to their robes and it is from this whirlwind that the Lord finally speaks to Job but instead of answering Job’s questions directly, God asks Job a series of rhetorical questions, which no human could possibly answer, beginning with “ Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?”  

Now it is here where once again I would ask you to go through the next two chapters slowly, ponder each question God puts to Job. Envision, if you will the foundation of the earth. The ocean’s bottom varies so much in depth that in some places let’s just say where the Titanic sunk it is quite deep while in other places such as the Bahamas the ocean’s floor is quite close allowing us to explore the floor with just a snorkel, I recently heard that if you took all the waters of all the oceans in the world and spread them out over the earth’s surface making them the exact same depth the water would be 1.5 miles deep. Now that’s a lot of water and it is only God’s amazing power that keeps the sea inside its boundaries.

Another one of my favorite visions are the store houses of snow and hail. I mean seriously, can you imagine going to a warehouse, and this has got to be a huge warehouse not just a dinky ole’ Home Depot, and saying “ Angel two, dump three feet of that snow on Anywhere, World.” Awesome! Awesome!! Awesome in power is our Lord, and those are just a couple of the many, some fifty plus, questions God puts to Job. Please allow yourself the privilege to really think about each one of the examples God lists that describe how big He really is, see them in your mind, be awed by them. Know that because He can do all of that, He is more than capable of taking care of anything that causes you grief.

Job will respond by recognizing God’s ways are best and it is when we find ourselves going through hard times that we too must remember our position before the Almighty God. His ways and His comprehension are so much greater than ours. When we look to heaven with tears in our eyes and say “Why??” and it seems as though He does not give us an answer, it is because He IS the answer. God is the answer for all that hurts our hearts if we will just lean on Him, trust in Him we will be allowed toß know that peace Paul tells us about in Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Believe it, it’s true! 

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all.