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1 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: 2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? 34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? 35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding? 37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens 38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? 39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? 41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? (Job 38:1-7, 34-41 NIV)
May this Wednesday begin, continue, and end with God's signature on all things, especially your heart, ConCafe Family! And may you, dear Friend, lead the charge to glorify God in all things today! As we pray, let us pray for Mrs. Alison Davis, staff member of FUMC-Gonzales, who once again was in the hospital with a major health concern. Pray for her healing and quick release from the hospital. Please continue to pray for one another, praying also for your concerns and needs as well. Make prayer the key to a blessed life always!
If you're a regular reader of ConCafe, you will remember that last Tuesday, Job had his turn in addressing God, beginning with his asking where God lived, so that he could approach Him and address all his concerns with God in hopes that all the terrible in his life would work out for the better. And, today it is God's turn to answer Job. It's quite an answer and you might want to get some popcorn! Light salt on mine, please! Imagine walking into a darkened theatre with the huge recling seats and this theatre has a state of the art sound system. What you are about to experience is not a movie, it is real life. In true digital sound. All your senses will be employed and it will be worth your while to sit there quietly, thanking God, you are not Job! Okay, that was a kind of spoiler alert.
Every light source in the theatre is turned off and it is deep cavern dark. You cannot see you own hand in front of you; it is that dark. The silence is almost deafening. Okay, someone in the theatre needs to turn down his hearing aid please! The first sound you hear is a faint sound of a wind approaching. It gradually builds up and soon the noise is almost unbearable, it has turned from a gust of wind to a storm level blast of air. You can hear birds, insects like crickets and frogs nervously singing their praises for what is about to happen. It is out of a storm's whirlwind, that God's voice comes thundering out. This is of course, a powerful drama; a human being has poured out his heart and anger towards God, and now God is answering back. Most of us would have run and hidden somewhere out of fear that if we truly anger God are we strong enough to take whatever God may throw back at us? It is theatre and it is life, and though we may not have written this drama, some of us have lived part of it and sometimes we have wondered where God has been hiding and when God answers we don't know where to hide! Yet, here we are invited guests to this needed encounter between God and His human, the star of the entire drama. We must remember that Job did not ask to be the central character of this entire show. He did not want to lose his family and his possessions or his health. And we may have even have said something to that effect during our adolescents, "I did not ask to be born, Mom and Dad!" And yet, here we were, stars as it were, of different dramas that made many of us think that we had had enough. But back to the drama at hand; God has yet to speak!
Upon hearing God's voice, we still want to hide. It is not a scary voice, what is scary is knowing that our words have brought the King of the Universe to this place to speak His peace. We do well to hear carefully, each of God's words in answer to Job's accusations. God first asks who it is that would dare to question Him in that way? And we hear God using words like "obscure my plans with words without knowing what they truly mean." Is God calling Job a word that means one without sense or wisdom? Would you dare to say that God is angry on what we have heard thus far? Hear God again; "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me." The sound system in this theatre is good! It makes me tremble a bit; where did I see the Exit, just in case? Okay, that's fair. Job dared to question God, and instead of an answer, God has His own questions that He would like for Job to answer. I can't help it; like Father, like Son remembering Jesus always answering questions with His own questions. "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand." Ouch. Yes, great question. Where were we when God made all things? Uh, we weren't quite made yet, Lord. You want to yell, "Say something Job!" But God knows that and that is part of the plan with which God wants to answer Job. God continues, "Job, were you there to measure off the earth's dimensions, using a measuring line, and understood how the foundation was laid, and did you see the laying of the cornerstone; did you hear the choir of stars singing their praises to God and did you happen to catch the angels shouting for joy? And can you shout at the clouds and have them bring a flood of waters to cover your earth? Can you dispatch lightning bolts; and do they take orders from you? Have you instructed any birds with wisdom; and are you wise enough to count the clouds? Can you tip over the great bucket of water in the sky so that the dry, parched earth can quench itself with life-giving water? Have you ever fed the lioness or her cubs or helped curb the appetitie of the lions when they are hungry? Is it you who provides food for the raven when its young are hungry and crying out to God about the lack of food?" I want to answer for Job, "No, but we sure would have loved to be there and seen all of that!" But alas, I can't. This is not my movie or drama; or is it?
All I know to say is, wow. But not too loudly; I feel that we may have already directed some attention away from Job to us! God has taken His turn and shared quite honestly and frankly the reality of all things. He is after all, The Architect of the Universe, the One who made all things, and provides all things for all things, Who knows way more than we could ever hope to know. What we have experienced was a Father talking lovingly and strongly to a questioning son or daughter; "Son/Daughter, do you have wisdom enough to know at least that I do know what I am doing?" We may want to know all things, and the when of all things, but that is not really our responsibility. It makes me smile to think of a father or mother who has to answer the "are we there yet?" question at every other mile marker who knows that while your 3 or 5 or 9 year-old does not know the map or the purpose of the trip, she or he still will ask, "Are we there yet?" quite possibly until you are there, and usually if the destination is one which they know and love, they will then fully understand all things; be it the ice cream cone they've been wanting, or the vacation at the amusement park which they've never had. As that child grows so will their understanding and appreciation for their parents until that day when they are in the place where they have to answer the questions for the kids. The curtain falls and leaves us frozen in our seats; some of us have to close our mouths.
Friends, we may not know what God is up to, or why, or when; but we need to mature in faith to the point of trusting more and moving forward even in the face of adversity or pain or challenge. The God who created us, will walk with us and see us all the way through. The way may not always be clear, nor the path straight and safe, but with every curve and twist and turn, God is with us and God will not allow us to fail.
PRAYER: Loving God, may our ways be Your ways, and when we think we may know more, grant us wisdom to seek You and Your counsel. May whatever is troubling us be eased with the knowledge that You who made all things, including us, will walk with us and bless us. May we bless others as we journey together. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! May you guide others to deeper faith with your openness to God today.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
