Job 40

Oh God, You are Lord of All

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

[Inspired by Job 38-42]

Holy God; Creator and Father, Lord of all,
The depths of Your being is beyond comprehension.
There is no limit to Your knowledge.
Your strength and power is unmatched.
Your authority is absolute; even the waves and the waters obey you, and creatures without understanding know their prescribed limits. You have set everything in motion and You sustain all that You have made.
Oh God, You are Lord of all.
You know the deepest recesses of the earth – nothing is hidden from You.
You know the secrets of all living things – You breathed the breath of life.
Your providence is unmatched in all the world – only from You do we have our sustenance.
Oh God, You are Lord of all.
Darkness is not dark to You for You are the Light, and nothing can overcome You. The most heinous of evil is no match for Your power and rule; for it has already been overcome. Actually, it never had a chance. You are King and sovereign.
Oh God, You are Lord of all.
You are the source of all wisdom – You are omniscient.
You are the source of love – You are love.
You are the source of all morality – everything is judged by You.
Oh God, You are Lord of all.
You are filled with majesty and honor – clothed with splendor unmatched.
You are enthroned on high – King of all creation.
You and You alone are worthy all all praise and worship.
Oh God, You are Lord of all.
Who am I to question You – to doubt Your actions?
Who am I to make suggestions – to dare tell You what to do?
Who am I to resist Your commands – to disobey, to act contrary to Your will.
I am but a worm in Your presence; nothing but clay molded by You; a creature without understanding.
In all my ways and words, I despise myself and repent. For the sake of Jesus Christ forgive me, heal me, remake me, mold me.
Oh God, You are Lord of all.

Questioning God???

/ The Pastor

“Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? [Job 40:7-8]

In chapter 38 of the book of Job; God speaks. For 35 chapters, Job and his three friends have been talking about God, but they all got God wrong. In chapter 2 we are told that Job did not sin with his lips following his suffering that God allowed Satan to inflict on Job,but Job still does not understand God.

Who does?
[You better not say that you do.]

These verses from chapter 40 almost make me nervous; as do God’s words from chapters 38-41. I can almost hear God speaking to me in those times when I am tempted to blame God or question God’s judgement.

But…

who am I to say that God is in the wrong?
who am I to question God’s judgement?
who am I to doubt God’s wisdom?
who am I to call into question God’s sovereignty?

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4)

The fact of the matter is that you don’t have understanding; no one does. The mysteries of this world are meant to be mysteries. The ways of God are higher than our ways and we aren’t meant to know them. The thoughts of God are higher than our thoughts and we aren’t meant to know them. We are not meant to see and know the whole picture. If God were to show you the WHOLE picture I think your brain would explode in a gruesome mess (sorry for the image but I think you get my point).

Job’s testing was meant to bring about God’s glory, and it did. Job passed the test. God won the bet with Satan. Why God allowed Job to suffer we can only postulate (and I will be careful here since I don’t want to be questioned like Job was). But Job’s suffering was only for a moment especially considering the grand scheme of God’s design. Job was blessed even more so following this episode and I can only imagine Job’s reward in heaven.

When God doesn’t make sense;
when God frustrates you;
when God seems to be utterly random…

…run to Him. Run into his loving arms and trust Him. Trust that God knows what He is doing and that God’s higher ways will bring about His glory and eventual yours.

God doesn’t make sense now, but that’s OK, because through Jesus Christ you can have the faith that everything will make sense later on. And who knows, in heaven someday we might even be able to laugh about our suffering when we consider how untrusting and unfaithful we were then.

Who knows?
God does, and that’s good enough for me 🙂

Praise be to God and Amen!

The Pastor -|—