“He wraps up the water in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst
beneath its weight…He stirs up the sea with His power, And by His understanding
He breaks up the storm.” Job 26:8
I’m so grateful that God included
the Book of Job to help us better relate to a suffering heart. It was two
chapters ago that Job was complaining to God about all the injustices that were
going unpunished. He spent a considerable amount of time pointing out bad
things that God seemed to overlook. The next
time we heard from Job he was reciting the greatness of God. His words that follow
the grumbling and rumbling were nothing short of a harmonious symphony written
just for God. His journey from woe to worship reminds us that our emotions are
a fickle tour guide, one to whom we must not give a license.
One time certainly comes to mind
when my prayer went from woe to worship in one kneeling. My father-in-law who
had Alzheimer’s was living with us and was in the final stage. I remember one
Thursday night I was up in our loft on my knees. I cried so hard my eyes were
raw and paths of tears marked my cheeks. I began telling God how the burden was
too much, and how our family had done it alone. I began reminding God that we
had not withheld anything in our caregiving. I felt frustrated, forlorn and
forgotten. It was a time when, unlike the clouds in our verse, I felt as if I
was going to ‘burst beneath the weight’ of my circumstances. And just like
that, the Lord stirred up my heart and mind, giving me His wisdom on a resource
I had not yet discovered for Bud. He brought Hospice to my mind and I could
instantly feel the storm losing its power over me. My woe turned into worship
as I praised Him for always being faithful for breaking up storms before they
break me.
I know that there are some of you
reading this today who have more woe in your prayers than worship. I’m
confident that the storm that wages against you is frightening and paralyzing.
These are the times where your depleted soul can intersect God’s unlimited
power that will carry you through the day. He will wrap up your tears and
worries and hold them back from breaking you. He is stirring the details of
your circumstances and only He understands what will resolve them. He will
breathe new life into dead situations and set your life back on its foundation.
His greatest miracles that He works in each of our lives are but a fraction of
what He has the power to accomplish in our lives. Every season has an ending
and every hushed storm has a rainbow. So,
keep your eyes on the rainbow, the beautiful promise that God is in control and
He will be faithful to His word.
"I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the
covenant...Whenever I form clouds...and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I
will remember My covenant between Me and you..." Ge 9:13-15
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