Job 38:1 Then
the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said...
I find this
opening salvo of God's justification to Job quite striking. It was a tornado
that ripped Job's children from him. It was a whirlwind of accusations from
Job's 3 buddies and Elihu that had further discouraged and disgusted the
patriarch. Now, from anther tornado, God speaks!
"Who
created everything and set the world in order? Who made you and gave you
breath? If you think you know everything, if you want to second-guess me, then
let me tell you what it is really all about, pipsqueak!"
Well, most of us
never had to suffer one-one thousandth of what Job did, but we have experienced
our share of craziness in life. The devil did his thing against us, faux
friends showed there true colors, people turned their backs on us; we have lost
our fair share of “stuff.” A person could relate some of these episodes in our
journeys to tornadoes of trouble, whirlwinds of woe.
But if we listen
closely enough, God will speak out of that craziness. His voice will whisper
from the cacophony of the tornado. His still small voice can be heard through
the din of the despair that threatens to totally undo us.
Wonderful words
of life will speak to our circumstance. Blessings from above will fall upon our
situation. Letters of love can be seen written on our dark clouds of despair
and the dust that settles around us after life explodes.
It is not God's
way to be silent forever. As with the children of Israel in bondage, He sees
our affliction, He hears our cries of distress, He knows our predicament and,
in His good time, He will come down to deliver.
His faithful
servant Job experienced the powers of hell being unleashed upon his
possessions, his family and his health. His friends paid a visit and railed
upon him. God was silent for a while. He knew all about Job and his trial. Shoot,
He even authorized it! When Job searched before and behind him and God seemed
to be absent, when he looked to the right and left and couldn't track the
Almighty, he exclaimed, "Won't somebody tell me where I might find my
God!"
But God was
there all the time. Job didn't know it, but God had His hand on him. Job
thought this was the end, but God knew the end from the beginning. God had
great things in store for the man who thought it was all over.
Finally, in
God's own good time, which is always the best timing, while the tornado was
still doing its destruction, God spoke. As soon as He did, understanding began
to open, wisdom began to flow, healing commenced to occur, and blessing started
to pour from heaven upon His servant.
Stay faithful,
storm-weary traveler. Don't succumb to the temptation to curse God and die.
Don't give in to self-pity. Don't turn from the commandments. Stay true! Bless
the name of the Lord. Maintain faith and praise. Listen to the voice of the One
Who rides upon the storms. When He finally speaks, He will give the last word
and the whirlwind will subside.
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