Processing Problems

Have you ever gone on a rant to the Lord, telling Him how he should have done it or what He should have allowed?  Or maybe how He should intervene, how He should fix it and make it right? Have you ever felt left to deal with the confusion of nothing going the way you thought it would?  Have you ever felt left in injustice or a place of despair? Have you ever felt like after a rant like this, God gave you His perspective and helped put you back in place? Boy, I have.  It can be jarring and incredibly comforting at the same time. It brings back awareness of how in control God is and humbles me by allowing me to realize just how limited my perspective can be.

Job rightfully found himself in this place after facing the loss of almost everything he held dear.  He definitely needed to verbally process with the Lord and friends after the confusing chaos that hit his life.  After Job spent several chapters lamenting in his anguish he says, “Let the Almighty answer me.” (Job 31:35) Job 38, 39, 40, and 41, are 4 chapters of God answering or rather asking His own questions that put into perspective just how small of a perspective we as humans have and just how enormous and all encompassing His perspective is. 

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell me if you know so much.

“Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?” (Job 38:4-5)

“Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?  Have you explored their depths?”

“Who makes rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?” (38:16, 26)

“Can you direct the movement of the stars?”(38:31)

“Can you shout to the clouds to make it rain?”

“Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?”

“Who gives intuition to the heart & instinct to the mind?” (38:34-36)

“Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions' appetites?”

“Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?” (38:39,41)

“Do you know know when the wild goats give birth?  Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?” (39:1)

“Have you ever given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?” (39:19)

“Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings to the south?” (39:26)

I love how God chooses to reveal to Job His control over all things big and small.  Sometimes we just need a revelation of God’s power both in grandeur and in the details.  Such a revelation helps our pain and problems dim in light of God’s eternal glory, and it gives us a fresh faith to believe God can do anything!  There’s no situation too big or too small, seen or unseen that God’s power and control can’t reach.

After this revelation of all the details God’s power and knowledge take care of, Job responds, “I know that you can do anything and no one can stop you...I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things too wonderful for me.” (Job 42:2-3).  If you are in a place of pain and confusion like Job, process it with God like he did just get ready for a fresh revelation of God’s power that will build your faith. The reward of taking the problem to the Lord and being willing not just to process your confusion but to receive God’s revelation back is seeing and experiencing the Lord in a new and deeper way. Listen to how Job responds after hearing God’s response, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” Job 42:5

2018/05/15 at 4:44 pm