March 9, 2011

Job 38
I have a brother, who is now with the Lord, who is 9 years older than I. When he was 18, he joined the National Guard. After returning from basic training and AIT, he was at the peak of his physical condition. We (my siblings and neighbor kids) were out in the yard playing some kind of game. For some reason I became infuriated with him. I launched all of my anger against him. He grabbed me by both arms and held me out from himself at a right angle where I couldn’t hurt him, and then, he just laughed.
Do you ever wonder what tone of voice the Lord used when He addressed Job? What emotion was behind these words? What was His tone? Was He angry? Disturbed? Angry sarcasm? Sparring? Semi-joking? Tender? Indifferent sarcasm? Did the questions come out in rapid fire like an automatic weapon, or did He give Job time to think and ponder on each one? Did each question pound its point home like a the mighty thunderbolt of the accompanying storm, or were they like scattered lightning bolts all across the sky bringing a general sense of fear that the atmosphere was no longer safe? The unanswerable questions eject out of God’s mouth as guided missiles to destroy the strongholds of Job’s haughty thoughts.
Indeed, could you answer God’s questions? We did not exist when He created the world. Although we can measure the earth, we are not the ones who determined its size. The theories as to how the earth was created are numerous indeed. As we look at the different theories we find little things within them that conflict with others that indicate that we really don’t know how the earth was created. The accepted theories change yearly. Even if we could determine exactly how God created the earth, we could never match it with our own power. We could never duplicate it. God has already done it.
We cannot control the level of the seas. It is quite possible that global warming is causing our polar ice caps to disappear. If they disappear, it probably will raise the sea level drowning many coastal cities and towns. But how do we know that our activity is what is causing global warming? Could it not be part of the natural flow of nature as the earth has been changing constantly since the flood of Noah? God can control these; we cannot.
Can we really change the rotation of the earth to affect the length of days or change the weather? We cannot figure out how to travel out of our own solar system, much less to other star systems or even outside of our own galaxy. How could we ever change the position of the constellations? We cannot, but God can.
We can barely remove the snow from our own streets and highways, much less control when, where and how much of it will come. But He controls it. Our Oklahoma weathermen love to chase thunderstorms and tornadoes in bravado in an attempt to warn people of the coming dangers, but God can stop it instantly.
We are angry with God. Like spoiled little 9 year old boys we yell and kick at God. We blame Him for the pain we experience. At times I think he just picks us up by both arms and holds us out where we can’t hurt ourselves, and He laughs. He laughs at our puny attempts at trying to beat Him. He laughs that we could actually think so highly of ourselves. He laughs so that we might consider who He really is. He laughs giving us time to repent, lest wrath come. He laughs teaching us to laugh also. He laughs because His glory is so much greater than ours. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john