The Lord Speaks
Reading: Job 38
Thirty-eight chapters of Job have led us to this moment. A moment that we too can experience if we will only choose to listen. “Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm…” So often we only listen for the Lord when we are in spiritual spaces, physically and mentally, but the Father will show up in all kinds of places if you will look for Him. Praise God that this is true because if it was up to me to get to a spiritual space to hear from God I would have been left behind ages ago.
The Lord chooses to meet Job in his storm to speak to the questions that were flooding his heart AND to clear up some misconceptions. Job and his friends understood that the Lord worked in ways “beyond [their] understanding” (37:5) but that doesn’t mean that we have to turn our brains off and let go over everything. We see many examples throughout scripture of people having discussions with God in their search for truth, growth and faith. Like when we see Jacob wrestle with the Lord. The Lord wants to hear from us and He speaks just as clearly today as He did then but we have to ask ourselves if we truly want God to speak to us. Sometimes I think we fear what He might say to us which leads to chapter 38 and Job's encounter.
“Who is this that obscures my plan with words without knowledge?”
What an opening! Job and his friends have been discussing everything with all of their wisdom and understanding only to have the Lord step in and say, “Guess what? You don’t have a clue.” That used to be a scary thought to me. I’m a planner and a preparer. I like to take all the information I have and try to come to the most logical conclusion available.
The majority of my faith story is based around the fact that I didn’t have a clue. That’s an uncomfortable place to be until you can learn to trust God’s holy plan and His love for you. We see this in John 13:7 when Jesus says, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” About four years ago, when the Lord spoke into my storm and He reminded me of that verse. Then He asked me a question I did not want to answer. “Are you okay with that?” Was I okay with not understanding in spite of all my knowledge and preparation? Was I okay trusting where it simply didn’t make sense? My response was timid and shameful. I wasn’t willing but I was willing to be willing and I asked that He would grow me beyond… well, me.
Much like God’s response to Job, I began to realize how very prideful and ridiculous I was to expect the God Creator of the universe to fit into the tiny box my brain could understand. The audacity to think I deserved answers. Not that the Lord chastens questions. He doesn’t and invites them daily but rather it was the fact that I thought I deserved a response that made sense to me. Looking back, I see that I would not want to experience a response from God that made sense in the eyes of the world. It would lack both grace and mercy which fortunately flow in abundance from the Father if we choose to accept them. So, if you are walking through a storm, ask all the questions your heart desires but trust that the righteousness and goodness of God may have answers that will not make sense on this side of Glory because we simply lack knowledge.
Today’s Prayer
Father, thank you for welcoming my questions and desire for wisdom. I’m sorry for the times that I try to make Your overwhelming plans fit into my tiny world. Thank you for including me in plans and dreams beyond anything I could imagine.
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