The Last few days have been turbulent to say the least. Turbulent and wonderful and full of God’s glory. Oddly, I’m going through a bunch of things all at once while finishing the book of Job. What is interesting about Job is that he’s never told why the afflictions he was suffering happened to him. He just spends the last three quarters of the book trying to justify himself before his friends who keep asking “What did you do to make God so mad?” and complaining that he was in abject despair. Yet in the end, God never answers him directly. Instead, God shows some of the workings of the cosmos. He asks Job if he was the one who sets the boundaries, and established the order, and keeps everything working. Job, when confronted with God’s power, glory, majesty and, well, Authority over all things, can only humble himself and worship.
In my life, I have had several days of turbulence. People needing help, crying out in desperate ways, yes, even scaring our small community with actions at the church, but in all of it, God’s providential hand was moving. God had the pieces in motion to bring Himself glory, and resolve every conflict that arose (and many did!), and showed His glory. I got a glimpse of some of the moving pieces, and it was humbling. I am still in awe of the greatness of God, even though I only caught a small peek. All of that leads me to this: when we’re going through trials and tribulations and troubles of every kind, we are vastly unaware of what God is working for our good, even if, like Paul, Peter, James and most of the apostles, and many, many brothers and sisters in Christ since, our lives will be demanded of us. God is working when and where we do not see, for our good (yes, even death is a great good to the believer), and always for His Glory. We should bear that in mind, and, even though our eyes don’t see it all (or even a large part of it), He is moving, and we should praise Him.
Job 38
The LORD Answers Job
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
“Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,
to bring rain on a land where no man is,
on the desert in which there is no man,
to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?
“Has the rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?
Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that a flood of waters may cover you?
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
or given understanding to the mind?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods stick fast together?
“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in their thicket?
Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food?
