“At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from
its place. Hear attentively the thunder of His voice, And the
rumbling that comes from His
mouth. He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning
to the ends of the earth. After it a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic
voice, And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard. God thunders
marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend. For
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on
the earth’; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength. He seals the
hand of every man, That all men may know His work. The beasts go into dens, And
remain in their lairs. From the chamber of
the south comes the whirlwind, And cold from the scattering winds of the north. By the breath of God
ice is given, And the broad waters are frozen. Also with moisture He saturates the thick
clouds; He scatters His bright clouds. And they swirl about, being turned by
His guidance, That they may do whatever He commands them On the face of the
whole earth. He causes it to come, Whether for correction, Or for
His land, Or for mercy. “Listen to this, O Job; Stand still and consider the
wondrous works of God. Do you know when God dispatches them, And causes the
light of His cloud to shine? Do you know how the clouds are balanced, Those
wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge? Why are your garments hot, When He quiets the earth by the south wind? With Him, have you spread out
the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror? “Teach us what we should say to Him, For we can prepare nothing because of
the darkness. Should He be told that I wish
to speak? If a man were to speak, surely he would be swallowed up. Even
now men cannot look at the light
when it is bright in the skies,
When the wind has passed and cleared them. He comes from the north as golden splendor; With God is
awesome majesty. As for the
Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is
excellent in power, In judgment and abundant
justice; He does not oppress. Therefore men fear Him; He shows no partiality to any who are
wise of heart.” Job 37 NKJV
Along with my normal studies, I decided a while
back to finally read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as part of my daily
routine. Rather than put a time frame on
it, I decided to simply read as much as I was comfortable with every day and
think about what I was reading and let the Spirit speak. The past few weeks have found me in the book
of Job, and to be truthful, the Spirit has been speaking a lot to me about how
I look at the Father and my position in relation to Him. Most importantly, however, is the conviction
about feeling the occasional desire to complain about not only my own
circumstances, but the state of the world and the persecution many are feeling
at this point in time.
Prior to this point in the book of Job, we find
that Job has done a pretty good job of not only lamenting his circumstances,
but trying to sell the argument that his persecution is wholly
unjustified. He has argued with three of
his friends, who truthfully were not much help at all while blaming Job himself
for his situation, and we finally find that there is a fourth individual who
decides to speak out and share his thoughts.
Elihu is a young man, and in that culture has rightly kept his silence
while letting the older and (wiser?) men speak.
Yet he now speaks to Job and in essence, asks Job to consider exactly
who he has been complaining about, and if he really understands his position in
relation to God.
Who among us has not complained to God at one
time or another about something which has occurred in our lives? While I understand that God is our Father,
and He welcomes our desire to speak with Him and enjoy the relationship as His
children, I think that just like Job there are times we need to be reminded
exactly who we are speaking to. When I
think about this, I can’t help but remember the reaction of all those in the
Word who were allowed to meet with God.
Without exception, they all fell on their faces in His presence and
majesty.
In this passage, Elihu reminds Job of not only
who God is, but the power He controls as the creator of the universe. It is surprising to see that many of the
things we might take for granted as a normal occurrence of nature is in fact,
orchestrated and controlled by God Himself.
It follows then, that Elihu is telling Job, and us, that absolutely
nothing occurs unless our Heavenly Father allows it to, and although we might
not understand the reasons for it, God is still in control. This is something I believe we all need to be
reminded of on a regular basis, especially in these times of trouble and
persecution.
Job is reminded of this, and it is timely
considering the fact that in the very next chapter, after Elihu has his say,
God decides to speak directly to Job.
While I get the feeling that what God has to say to Job, especially
after Elihu’s words, is predictable, it is also Job’s response to God when
offered a chance to speak that I find most enlightening.
“Then Job answered the LORD and said:
“Behold, I am vile;
What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth.” Job 40:3-4
NKJV
Speaking only for myself, the next time I think
about complaining to God about anything, I’m going to remind myself of this
reaction by Job and cover my mouth. God
controls everything, and that includes my very conception. My Father chose to create me so who am I to
complain about what will eventually prove to be a temporary inconvenience?
Keep watching.
