Questions God asks...
A reality that many times Christians don't think about is that you and I are involved in a spiritual battle to either serve our creator, God, or to serve His adversary, Satan. The truth is that all of us are going to serve one or the other. Any idea that I may have of just facing life on my own terms, simply means that I have made my choice to not serve God. We are to serve God on His terms or we are not serving Him.
The book of Job in the Bible is a book of questions. In chapter 1, Satan came among the sons of God who were presenting themselves to God. The Lord addressed Satan asking where he had come from. Satan answered that he came from roaming the earth, walking back and forth on it. Then God asked him if he had considered His servant Job. God said that there was no other person like Job. He was the finest man in all the earth, he feared God and stayed away from evil. Satan answered with the challenge that of course Job is perfect, you have completely protected him and all that he has, so why wouldn't he serve you perfectly? But if you strike down all that he has, he will only curse you to your face. But God knew Job, so He told Satan that he gave him power over all Job had, but he was not to touch Job. So Satan destroyed everything Job had; all his family, all his servants, all his possessions. But guess what? Job did not sin by blaming God. When Satan came again before the Lord in chapter 2, the Lord asked if he had considered Job, the perfect one who still held fast to his integrity although Satan move the Lord against him without cause? Then Satan threw out the challenge to God that it was only because Job was not physically suffering, and that a man would give all that he has for his life. He told the Lord that if he reached out and touched Job's bone and flesh that indeed Job would curse God and die. But he did not!
There followed many hours of human arguments, questions, accusations and personal justifications as Job's friends got involved. Then God showed up in what must have been a chaos of thunder, lightening, and wind in what the Bible describes as a tempest, whirlwind, a hurricane (Strong's Hebrew Dictionary # H5591)! The Lord immediately begins with “Who is this that darkens the counsel by words without knowledge?” Then God shows up! It is like He is calling out Job by his full name as his Mom would when she telling him to 'Look at me when I am talking to you'... God says, “Brace yourself like a man; for I have some questions for you and you will answer me!” Next, comes a whole slew of questions about the works of God, designed to guide Job into becoming acutely aware of his smallness and spiritual poverty, and of God's greatness and goodness. God did not want Job to make the same mistake we all do. We all make God in our own image.
There is something so intimate about God's showing up in a huge whirlwind as if in a hurry now that Job was ready to really meet Him! He was coming to Job's rescue! Job had heard of God, believed in God, and lived his life by God's ways in order to please God. But, as he says in chapter 42, he had never seen God until now. Job's suffering had brought up many questions; questions that he needed clear answers to. So he, trusting in God, sought answers from God. This is one of the greatest lessons we can learn from the life of Job. When we seek God, He shows up! He Himself is the answer! He becomes our hiding place and our strength, and His desires become our desires. Then we begin to obey Him. That is when God and Jesus Christ will become the absolute center of our life! As a result, we will spend our life seeking God's face and anticipating, having hope in a future when we will actually see Him face to face. God is challenging us every day the same way he challenged Job. The question to us is, “Do you really understand who I am?” We may know about God, as Job did, but do we really know the being who reveals Himself in creation, who reveals Himself through the Bible, and who reveals Himself through the power of His Holy Spirit? Have we really seen who God is? Do we experience His presence in our life? God has shown us that we certainly can!
The future is barreling toward us, faster and faster as prophecy is playing out in front of us! We must seek His face as never before to be able to be His Watchmen and to be prepared to meet Him! Only He can show us how to prepare and only He can help us to get the message out that He is on the way, so we must get ready! Our life in eternity depends on it!
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