Friday, December 1, 2017

From the Whirlwind

"Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said, ‘Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words? Get ready to answer me like a man; when I question you, you will inform me.” Job 38:1-3.

I have never noticed until this morning the book of Job is primarily made up of a series of questions between Job and his circle of influence. ‘Why is this happening? Whose fault is it? What can be done to change these circumstances? What if…?’ I find it interesting that 37 of the 42 chapters Job spent such futile energy and heightened emotion on discussing God instead of just approaching God. They gnawed on that bone until God had heard enough. Job 38:1 ushers in the exasperated question from God to a group of talkers who lack knowledge on everything. ‘Who are you listening to?’ By the time God spoke the circumstances had elevated to the description of a whirlwind.

How many of us are also guilty of spending our majority of time either talking about our problems, questioning the reason they are happening, or attempting to fix our problems in our own strength? Hours wasted sitting on our phone on hold for an answer as God sits on hold waiting for us. Hours searching the internet while God longs to be found? He cannot answer if we do not ask…He cannot be found if we do not seek…He cannot open if we do not knock. We receive little because we ask little, and then we are shocked and angered when nothing changes. We walk through our situations as victims instead of hikers. We feel that we have been done to, instead of walking with God in confidence that He is doing some critical work in our lives. We try to master over our circumstances in the rouse that we will have control. We will only have the control over our experiences that God allows. ‘Every single season of defeat is driven by lies.’ The Quest, Beth Moore, p. 11. The lie says that we can handle all our challenges when Truth says, ‘You were never meant to handle this, but to place it in God’s hands.’ The lie tells us that we have been victims, while Truth says 'You have victory in Christ.' The lie says that justice isn’t being served in our situation when Truth says, ‘Christ didn't experience His earthly justice, so our eternal justice could win in the end.’

For every question we have for man, God has an answer for us. He invites us to question Him directly, especially since He already knows the question, and already has the answer. ‘Asking is a form of intimacy.The Quest. I believe that the FAQ between Father and child is an act of worship, trust and revelation. Allow God to speak to you from your whirlwind and then lift your questions to Him in worship, reverence and anticipation of His answer.

'Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' Jeremiah 33:3.

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