June 26, 2018 Tuesday

“1 ¶  Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 2  “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? 3  Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. 4 ¶  “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5  Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6  To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7  When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8  “Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb; 9  When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band; 10  When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors; 11  When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!’” (Job 38:1-11 NKJV)

            In the first 37 chapters of the book of Job we see the terrible tragedy of what happened to Job and the terrible tragedy of his friends. Job has seemingly lost everyone and everything except his wife who is so helpful as she calls Job to curse God and die!

            The friends of Job are so helpful by assuming Job is being punished for his sin. In the conversations of Job’s friends we see a mishmash of theologies most of which imply Job is being punished for his sin and failure to live within God’s path.

            As the discussion goes on Job seems to get even more upset by the circumstances and by the accusations of his friends. We are shown a picture of what NOT TO DO when we visit someone in the hospital, those who grieve, those who are shut in and those who are struggling with situations like Job did!

            Job questions God’s care and God’s plan. God comes back with the question “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  We question and doubt what God is doing and how God responds to our prayers. We cannot understand God without the Bible to help guide of to knowing God and who God is.

            We just like Job cannot know the depths and the wisdom of God without the Bible. Many failures and heresies come about because we either do not know what’s in the Bible or don’t care. When we do this we call God a liar and crush the very foundation built by Jesus upon our life

            In our arrogance we believe we know better than the God who created everything out of nothing and choose to go our own way! Even when it seems to be “nice” in truth we become a travesty by our disrespect for God’s struggles in our own lives and the literal spiritual death of those we seek to be nice to!

            When trouble and destruction comes into your life how do you respond? Do you believe the Bible is the foundation for knowing God and living the Christian life? If not what is your foundation?