“Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words? Get ready to answer me like a man; when I question you, you will inform me.”
Job 38:2-3 CSB
Just like the thunderstorm reminds us of our small place, Gods questions to Job remind him of his smallness. It’s as if God were demonstrating Jobs ignorance…
Lord, the humility of humanity means we are limited. Help me to embrace who You created me to be, including my limitations, weakness and failures…
“My heart pounds at this and leaps from my chest. Just listen to his thunderous voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He lets it loose beneath the entire sky; his lightning to the ends of the earth. Then there comes a roaring sound; God thunders with his majestic voice. He does not restrain the lightning when his rumbling voice is heard. God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.”
Job 37:1-5 CSB
There is a reason that thunderstorms bring awe from deep within us, it is a display of power, chaos and beauty! None of which can we control… Gods fingerprints in that storm remind us that we are small and insignificant in comparison to all that God is doing. Yet, He also cares about every detail of our life…we don’t deserve that level of care, but He gives it graciously!
Lord, help me to live in awe of You! Allow my heart to remember Your faithfulness when the chaos of life is overwhelming. Remind me that You are bigger than any problem and more powerful than my circumstances!
“For his eyes watch over a man’s ways, and he observes all his steps. There is no darkness, no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide. But when God is silent, who can declare him guilty? When he hides his face, who can see him? Yet he watches over both individuals and nations,”
Job 34:21-22, 29 CSB
God does watch over all of us, and there is nowhere to hide. Even when we feel like God is far from us or that He isn’t paying attention, He is still there. And as believers, His Spirit is in us…that really is comforting, yet frustrating! If He is always with my, why does He feel far away at times?
I have heard a pastor say, His felt absence is evidence of previous closeness, and amplifies His coming nearness…
“For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him. The dying blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice. I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger.”
Job 29:12-16 CSB
I have felt like Job before …fully and thoughtfully reviewing my performance and seeing nothing but good… that was shortly before God revealed what my motivations were. I had no idea that pride was driving much of my good works! I actually think, that was not the case with Job, I think he was a good guy. But this reminded me of how blind I can be to my own reality.
More importantly, it reminded me that God carefully and lovingly walks with us on the road to sanctification. He doesn’t point us in a direction and tell us to go…but He is with us every step of the way, revealing reality slowly so that we can be made new, one layer at a time.
God is so patient with us, lovingly opening our eyes to the next failing He wants us to surrender to Him. He then reshapes us to resemble Jesus just a little bit more, then on to the next, and the next, and the next…
“But where can wisdom be found, and where is understanding located? No one can know its value, since it cannot be found in the land of the living. Gold cannot be exchanged for it, and silver cannot be weighed out for its price. Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning. The price of wisdom is beyond pearls.
He said to mankind, “The fear of the Lord #— #that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.” ”
Job 28:12-13, 15, 18, 28 CSB
I have spent so much of my life pursuing success and achievement. I knew that those things most consistently come through wisdom and understanding. For decades, I sought those, even from the right places, but my motive was for selfish gain…it is sad to realize it now.
Lord, you are the source of wisdom and knowledge. But knowing You and living in surrender to Your will is the best measure of success…God, help me to live as if that were true!
“If only I knew how to find him, so that I could go to his throne. I would plead my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.”
Job 23:3-4 CSB
What a blessing that we know how to approach God! Better still that we do not need to argue our case before Him, rather Jesus is our Lawyer. Jesus is our intercessor, who pleads our case to the Father. The case is compelling because it has nothing to do with what we have done, only what Jesus has done for us!
Lord, thank You for revealing yourself to us through Jesus and Your Word! Thank You for allowing us to know You and desiring relationship with us.
“But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. I will see him myself; my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.”
Job 19:25-27 CSB
The confidence that Job has that he will see his Redeemer even after he dies is encouraging. It is easy to despair of all the truth you know when you are in the midst of a trial, yet that doesn’t change God or who He is.
Lord help me to rest in You when trials come. Allow your eternal truth, the Word of God, to be the thing that I believe, rather than the feelings that fade and change.
