Thursday, August 31, 2017

August 31

Job 37:1-39:30; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10; Psalm 44:9-26; Proverbs 22:13

My firstborn started kindergarten yesterday. I’ve been dreading it for months – not just the sadness of her going off to school, away from me for hours each day, but also the loss of time with her brothers. And I’ve mourned the change to our schedule this brings, namely that we now have a schedule. And we now have less control over what happens to her. When I let myself dwell on it too much, anxiety starts to creep in. Will she have friends at her school? Will she be made fun of? Will there be bullies? And as the years go on, what bigger problems will she face? Will some boy take advantage of her? Will she get in with the wrong group of girls? When we send our kids out into the world, it’s a truly terrifying thing.

And then I read the words from Elihu today – “God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour” (Job 37:5-6). Here is a God who controls each snowflake, each raindrop, a God who does great things I can’t even comprehend. Sure, Elihu’s purpose in writing these words is to put Job in his place; but they also reveal the truth of who our God is – in control, good, and sovereign. I’m so thankful for that reminder as I send my precious babies into the unknown.

And now we come to the part in Job that everything pivots on – God’s response to Job. Don’t you love how the author puts it: “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said…” (Job 38:1, emphasis mine)? Then God goes on to truly reveal himself and his omnipotence to Job in a series of questions that prove his power and authority. Here are just a few that really struck me:
  • "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (Job 38:4)
  •  “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place…?” (vs. 12)
  • “Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.” (vs. 18)
  • “Can you send forth lightings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?” (vs. 35)
In question after question, God reveals himself to Job. I know this passage is sometimes viewed as God squashing Job, but I don’t completely see it as that (though I’m sure there is some of that here). God also wants to remind Job that no matter what Job is going through, God is still sovereign. He is still the one calling the shots, still in charge, and still good.

What a great reminder to us as well, as we struggle to remain confident in the truth that God is good no matter what our circumstances say. It ties in perfectly with Paul’s words in our New Testament reading: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

This week, on what feels like the precipice of our family’s future, I’m thankful for these truths and God’s word, which so clearly reveals who he is.


- Esther McCurry

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2 comments:

  1. Congrats Ruthie! (Evan started kindergarten in July). Such big kids now! Thanks for your post.

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  2. Big kids, indeed! Ruthie loves it. Hope Evan does, too.

    ReplyDelete