| Special Note: Pastor Cecil is out of town holding his brother’s funeral, so he’ll be gone for a few days. Please remember to pray for him and his family at this time. Thanks, Russ |
Job 38:4
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?”
Why do bad things happen to good people? The Book of Job in the Old Testament relates the classic suffering story of a good man named Job. We have modern day sayings that come from his story, such “by the skin of his teeth” and “the patience of Job.”
In his story, Job suffers multiple attacks from Satan and his good meaning “friends” rebuke him with their thoughts on God and His ways and why Job is suffering so. After 37 chapters of pain and suffering and rebukes from friends, finally, in Job 38ff, the LORD speaks and says . . .
“Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? . . .
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? . . .“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this . . .
Then Job replied to the LORD :
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
This Scripture is so interesting and you can read the entire story yourself, but Job confesses and says, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things to wonderful for me to know.” And it says Job repented.
It’s easy to complain about our situation, but we don’t know the whole picture, only God does. The Book of Job reminds us that God is God and it is He who is in control. He is the Almighty and He is all powerful and He has a plan.
In Romans 8:28 we are taught, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son . . . “ So, if we love Him, God uses “all things” to conform us to the likeness of Jesus, no small feat.
In Timothy Keller’s book, The Reason for God, he says, “Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore Jesus knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power exceeds ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and godforsaken. Why did he do it? The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us.”
God manages to take all the good and bad things life throws at us and works it together for our ultimate good. All we have to do is repent of our sin and accept His gift of forgiveness. What an amazing God we have! He is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Redeemer, our Sacrifice, our Advocate, our Savior, our Friend, and our Lord! He owns it all and is in control of all.
To access This Is My Father’s World, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/thisismyfathersworld in your browser or click on the image below.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Brother Russ (for Pastor Cecil)