He Is God And I Am Not!

August 28

Job 38-39

Psalm 98:1-3

Proverbs 21:13-15

Galatians 3

He Is God And I Am Not!

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the Earth?  Tell Me, if you know understanding.  Who set its measurement?  Since you know, or who stretched the line on it?  On what were its bases sunk?  Or who laid its cornerstone?”  Job 38:4-6  LSB

Job found out that questioning God is utterly pointless.  He is sovereign.  He created everything that is and He sustains it by His mighty hand.  It is good to read Job 38-39 periodically as a reminder that He is God and we are not.  God patiently listened to Job and his friends for 37 chapters and then He had had enough.  It was time for God to speak.  I don’t think His words were intended to suggest that Job should not have poured out His heart to God.  God can handle our sorrow and pain.  He loves us and knows what we are thinking anyway so it is futile to think we could fool Him.  Voicing our concerns and questions doesn’t make Him mad.  It is always the right thing to go to God when we need understanding and clarity.  God was reminding Job of his place.  This was not done to belittle or condemn Job, but rather to open his eyes to the reality of his situation.  Job needed to remember that God is God, He is on His throne, and He is in control. 

God’s words are powerful. “Who enclosed the sea with doors and said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop.”  “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place?”  “Have you entered into the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?”  “Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?” “Where is the way to where the light dwells?  And darkness, where is its place?”  “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail?”  “Can you bind the chains of Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?  Can you lead forth a constellation in its season and guide the Bear with her satellites?”  “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth?  Do you keep watch over the calving of the deer?”  “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretching his wings toward the south?  Is it at your command that the eagle goes on high and raises his nest high?”  God’s speech is a great source of comfort because it reminds us that He sees all, knows what is going on and is in control of everything from the vastness of the constellations to the deer giving birth to her baby.  We don’t need to worry or doubt whether God can take care of us.  In every situation, He knows best and He is capable of bringing it about.  We just have to trust Him and rest in the knowledge of His love and mercy.  We cannot comprehend His majesty and power, but it is important that we recognize our limitations and His sufficiency.