Job 38:1 "Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm." I'm not sure why these words jumped off the page at me today, but I know there have been lots of times when I have begged God to answer me in the midst of storms in my life. And boy, God gave Job quite an answer. I guess God told him just how the cow ate the cabbage, huh! God is such a detail man, and these chapters definitely showcase His handiwork.
Job 40:3-5 Then Job answered the Lord: "I am unworthy--how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer--twice, but I will say no more." Good answer. I'm thinkin' this might be a good verse to tape up next to my telephone.
Job 40:6 God speaks to Job out of the storm again. I just picture Job standing outside looking up to heaven with a blast of Northeastern Colorado wind blowing His hair straight back, his eyes squinted against the dust, bracing himself like a man to take his beating, just as God told him to do.
The rest of chapter 40 and then chapter 41 speak of the behemoth and the leviathan. I have heard it taught that these are dinosaurs and dragons. What do you think?
Job 42:2 "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." Great answer once again. This would be a great life verse for those of you who are still looking for one!
Job 42:6 Job repented. What did he have to repent of? I thought he stayed fairly blameless through the whole ordeal. Do I have that attitude about myself? Do I think, well at least my attitude doesn't stink as bad as those of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar? Even though Job did not speak out against the acts of God, maybe he harbored hurt feelings. Perhaps in his heart and mind, he had begun to question God's plan for him. I know I find myself in that place far too often. I need to repent.
Job 42:10 The Lord makes Job twice as prosperous as before! Hallelujah! I am so happy for Job. It does not mention his wife. Hmmm. Verse 11 says his brothers and sisters came to celebrate with him. It doesn't say if his wife repented of her bad attitude. God blesses Job with 10 more children, and Scripture leaves us wondering if Job's wife ever said she was sorry for questioning God's plan. Job saw his family tree grow four generations. I sure hope for his sake that his wife was pleasant to live with. (Look up quarrelsome wife in Proverbs.)
I encourage you to read these passages from The Message. Once God says all those things what argument would you have? What could Job even say at this point? The Message says that Job answered like this "I'm speechless, in awe- words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! I've talked way too much. I'm ready to shut and listen."(Job 40:3-5 The Message)I think that Melinda pointed out that we tend to creat our own storms by not seeking out God's word first. God did let those things happen to Job because He knew his heart. Just like he knows ours.....but Job, as we do, felt he had the right to question what God was doing. And God showed Job that God's actions do not depend on ours. God will do what he knows is best no matter what we think is fair. Dana, I was looking for info on the behemoth and found that some believe that this was an elephant or hippopotamus. And also found that some believed that the Leviathan meant seven-headed sea monster in Canaanite myths. But means crocodile in here. Interesting.... :)
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing chapters, the details of God's creations and He only mentioned a few. And here we are thinking that we have to figure it all out, but we have seen from scientists that the more they figure out, the more confusing it can become.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes me think of my life verse - Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Without God, I would not be. I had a huge scare last weekend. Daryl was at the Eckley cemetery mowing and a call came across the emergency response radio that there had been an accident at the Eckley cemetery. My heart fell and I yelled out "Oh, God please!" That was all I could say and I fumbled for the phone to call Daryl's cell phone. It seemed like it rang forever and I began to pull my keys from my purse and headed to the door and Daryl answered and said "I'm okay" Thank you Lord and I cried.
Many people don't have that moment of relief come, they have to face some sort of tragedy head on, I pray that if/when that day comes that I can be strong in the Lord and really cling to my verse...He is before all things and He holds this world together so He can hold me together also, if I allow Him to. I can't do it, not one bit of it. I have to give it ALL to Him.
The Message was very good to read. I wonder how many times in the midst of my whining temper tantrum, God is saying, "Pull yourself together, Amy." It sort of puts a smile on my face, not because it's ha ha funny; but because God believes in those He chooses. I know that sounds like, Well, duh!!! But seriously, God BELIEVES IN ME! Even though I don't. And He can say, "Amy, seriously, you have ME, the Almighty God, pull yourself together."
ReplyDeleteWhile I think God let Job have it, it certainly was humbling and it certainly speaks volumes to God's mighty power...and THAT power is behind each and every one of us!!!
I cannot imagine what Job must have felt when God spoke to him in chapter 38:1-3 "The the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind; and said: Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. I swallowed hard after I read that one! When I finished reading all of what God was asking Job I found myself saying the same thing. I talk too much. I should place my hand over my mouth.
ReplyDeleteChapter 39:26-30 caught my eye. Does the hawk fly by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up at your command and make its nest on high? I am reminded through and through that God Himself is in charge of everything. I had the opportunity to see a an eagle's natural habitat in an area where Matt was working in Wyoming a few years ago. As long as they were nesting, all work to be done by man ceased to function in order to protect their lives. It was amazing! Thank you Lord for that experience!
Vs. 28: On the rock it dwells (in this case a tree out of nowhere) and resides on the crag of the rock and the stronghold. Vs 29: From there it spies out the prey; its eyes observe from afar. The eagle sits and waits but is very attentive to all that is going on around him. At times he takes to flight for sheer pleasure as well as to hunt, all the while knowing exactly what to do and when to do it! Oh what delight that would be to know what to do in all situations and when to do it!! Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength: They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary they shall walk and not faint.
Chapter 42 is amazing to me. As Job listened to all that God had to say to him about Himself, Job aligned himself with God and agreed with Him about his shortcomings. He repented immediatly and God restored what Job had lost and then much more. As for his friends, I never thought of them being present when God was talking to Job at this time. I can only imagine what was going through their minds and how fast their hearts must have been beating when God turned his attention to them. I have been in that same position and it was very uncomfortable. But praise the Lord that He will restore us, He will lift us up on wings like eagles and He will encourage us to remember who He is and what He does. The following chours came to mind: Who am I? That the Lord of all the earth, Would care to know my name, Would care to feel my hurt. Who am I? That the bright and morning star, Would choose to light the way, For my ever wandering heart. Not because of who I am, But because of what you've done. Not because of what I've done But because of who you are. I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,A wave tossed in the ocean, A vapor in the wind. Still you hear me when I'm calling, Lord, you catch me when I'm falling, And you've told me who I am. I am yours.
Sorry about being so lengthy. I will not do that again. I didn't realize it was that much! Anonymous is me, I failed to put in my name.
ReplyDeleteDon't apologize, well for me I love reading the comments!
ReplyDeleteDana, I noticed you are shortening the day's reading assignments--which by the way is very helpful!!! ;-) Would you mind at the end of your original posts for each "chunk" of reading posting what will be the next day's reading? Did that make sense? It's late. ;-)
Thanks.
Girls, I am in tears over your fresh insight! This is such a God-thing!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Cindy, that you don't realize how much it will be when you post. That is fabulous though, because it means we are engaging with the God of the universe, Who is revealing His Word to us as never before. I have read the Bible through more than once, and I am enjoying it even more this time because you are all along for the journey, and because I am interacting with the Word more actively than I would all by myself.
Hilary, thanks for directing us to The Message version. Fabulous!
One of my favorite resources is The Institute for Creation Research www.icr.org If you type Job in the search box on their website, a number of articles come up on the topic of dinosaurs, etc.
Melinda, Colossians 1:17 is a wonderful life verse. Thanks for sharing your story with us. We are grateful that God answered your prayer for your husband's safety. It is a reminder to all of us that God holds the fragile balance of our lives for us.
Yes, Amy, God does believe in you! God is not ashamed to be called your God(Hebrews 11:16). Keep longing for Him.
Thanks for the questions and suggestions. I will try to remember to post the readings for the next day.
Love ya'll!
dy
I have hear the same thing about the behemoth and the Leviathan also.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Job was a little proud of himself for not really listening to his three friends. Who were actually trying to be a good influence on him. But have you had those friends that don't listen and sympatize with you? All they want to do is tell you why and what they think. That is not really being a gracious friend. Sometimes, I feel like the art of being a real friend is lost. They were just glad that it was not them going through these trials. God can be silent for a very , very long time. And when we truly rely on God for the answer and wait, it is so hard to do. But in the end we know that God makes us stronger through it.
I forgot to mention in the other post that because the devil still and always will has to go before God to ask Him, before he does anything, let me know how much God is in control.
As I read these passages, I kept thinking, "Ya, what more can we say?" And somehow I always still think, "But God, I know that my way would be the best way, if you would just listen to me." WoW! What an eye opener. I'm thinking I need to do some serious humbling right about now! I am so encouraged when reading everyone's comments and please keep them coming. I think it's great to listen to other's perspectives on things, cuz a lot of times it's things I didn't even think of when I was reading them. So, thank you ladies for sharing! On another note though, I was talking to my son one time about God and what he wants from all of us and what He expects from us. I can't remember everything that was said, but it had to do with us not getting a "big ego." And he said to me, "Well, God seems to have a big ego." I didn't know how to respond to that because I too had thought that same thing. But reading these verses made me just think, "Well when you can do all that, I guess you have grounds for a big ego." None of us can do any of those things. It is all about Him and it should be! Cindy, I so love that song and how very true it is. It's Not because of who I am, But because of what you've done. Not because of what I've done But because of who you are!!! WOW, this is good stuff. And I've read all of this before, but never really took the time to really think about it in all these ways. Thank you, Dana, for your obiediance to do this study. I am thinking about things I really needed to be thinking about and right at this exact moment in my life. Oh, by the way, mmms is my initials for those who might not know who this is- It's Melissa.
ReplyDeleteI think I just found my life verse:
ReplyDeleteJob 38:2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?" I need that to remind me that God is the one in charge and knows what's best and I need to shut up cuz I don't really know what's going on here.
We had a friend at church in Ft. Worth who always said God has the helicopter view of time. He can see our lives from beginning to end. I can just imagine Him laughing at me for fretting over some small detail that won't even impact my eternity.
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