There are days in this life of ours that just reek with thoughts of the abyss, feeling of woe, and events reflecting mayhem, lostness, and unfairness. You know like today. Where it seems like all day long we are exposed to all of the suffering people go through, from the mistreatment of nature, animals, and even our pets, to what seems like the disparity of the good being punished while the bad apparently get even more from this life of the working day. It’s enough to almost make a person cynical, and loose hope of the moment.
And yet the more I think about it, the old cliché holds true as ever: “Today is what you make of it.” In fact, let me quote to you from the writer of New Testament letter to the Hebrew Christians of his day. Reading from Hebrews 4:12-13;
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
The author who wrote the book of Hebrews 2,000 years ago is encouraging you and me today, as long as it is today, to not let all the distractions of the world lead our hearts into sin and disbelief. That I am sure is why our hospital (First Baptist Church of Ogden Utah), is a congregation dedicated to worshiping and serving God, which leads to the healing of our hearts.
In common, we all share times when we come to our God saying; “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” As with all problems we Christians hold a common vanguard of power for our relief, restoration, and sustenance, within the Word of God and nurtured by His Holy Spirit, we the Body of Christ are resourced for survival.
Today, I want to do something I have been thinking about for a while. I want to share with you most of God’s longest speech, dialog, and presentation in scripture. God will be responding to our natural way of complaining about the unfairness of life with a firsthand reality lesson.
For our edification, maturity, and spiritual growth, He in your Lord speaking to the petitions of a righteous man. A man like you and I, who at times looses our way, our vision, and clarity of thought. Please, let me read for you Job 38-40:14;
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.
This already hurts and we are just getting started, and our God is only going to state-brass tax facts. Verse 4;
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?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
*Now, time for some biting sarcasm from the Lord;
…21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
And now God laces in a comment on the stars and their formations in the skies above…
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
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 39;
1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
Job 40: 1-14, begins with another challenge to Job’s insight on heavenly plans and Job’s reply;
1 The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
*The Lord is not finished with Job’s instruction. And as I continue, I can feel Job’s pain, and God’s passion for His creation. Continuing now at verse 8;
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12 look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
*Well, the Lord continues His longest dialog in our Bible; through chapter 40 and 41 (go read it!), and then Job gives this response to God in chapter 42.
Job 42:1-6;
1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
There is more going on than just demanding Job to say he was sorry. Job now has a glimpse of the intelligence, purity, and majesty of our Creator. So why wasn’t Job and his friends just outright destroyed? Perhaps because God leads by example and practices what He instructs in scripture, which is why you have been instructed in 1 Peter 4:8;
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
In this case God’s love for Job, or even you and me, scars and all is the saving factor of our existence. Its God’s love for His creation that He would take this time to teach us just a fraction (what we are only capable of comprehending) of His considerations about our existence in His majestic scheme of things.
God is educating Job and the rest of creation, that there is more than just me and my hopes, my dreams, my wants and desires,… that are in play in God’s creation.
That when we question why things are the way they are, that in itself is not a sin. The sin comes when we forget ourselves and let our hearts be swayed and yes hardened by all the world’s distractions, from trusting and believing in Him.
As the Lord instructed us earlier in today’s prelude from Mark 9:24; … “Everything is possible for one who believes.” … I didn’t say that, your Lord said that!
My hope and prayer for you my beloved family in God, is that you will get a chance soon, to reflect on the greatness of majesty a future is, with your Lord.
Amen!
Benediction; 1 Peter 4:7-10,
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.