Brothers & Sisters,
Have you ever had just a moment in time where you look around and can't help but think to yourself "wow, this is what life is about..." I had one of those moments the other day. After a long day out in a village doing a medical clinic I came home, got cleaned up, ate dinner and decided to go to town for a little while. As I was on my scooter heading to town I looked up at the sky and noticed something that I never really paid any attention to.. I noticed, though it was not dark yet or even dusky for that matter, the moon had already started to ascend. I looked back to see the sunlight, although hidden behind a cloud, still shining bright as though it was never planning to go down. At that very moment in time I couldn't help but think of the book of Job. God, after defending Job to satan had allowed satan to test Job. Satan had taken everything Job had, everything he had worked for. His children died, his crops, servant and animals we burnt up in a fire from heaven, or put to the sword by those invading the land. Job was inflicted with painful sores, from head to toe. Job began to eventually curse the day of his birth, he began to question God... But no sooner did he start, God spoke to him..
Read closely what God says, "Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?"
Imagine, God, OUR FATHER, did and continues to do all these things. it is unimaginable.. I can not realistically comprehend this fully. What I do know, is exactly what Job knew after hearing this and the following chapters as God continues to describe himself.. Job responded lastly with this “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."
Will I every understand the greatness of my God, I will.. I will understand His greatness completely on the day I see him in Glory. The day that we arrive at eternity's shore.. The day that His bride stands before him singing "Holy, Holy, Holy." For today, I will take that image of His greatness, the image of the moon rising before the sun sets and I will seek knowledge, and continue running earnestly towards Him, fully anticipating the day I see Him face to face, and finally understand His greatness. My friends, our God is great, He is mighty, all powerful, merciful, forgiving, loving, unconditional, constant .. All we have to do is look at his creation, look at the stars in the sky, the brightness of the sun shining on your face each day, the perfection of a snow flake or the frequency of a rainbow. Our God loves us, and he is showing us each day. Seek the Creator, run to him, enjoy his creation, and be BLESSED by His love!!!
Jessica.
(Scripture is found in Job 38:4-41, 42:1-3)
Have you ever had just a moment in time where you look around and can't help but think to yourself "wow, this is what life is about..." I had one of those moments the other day. After a long day out in a village doing a medical clinic I came home, got cleaned up, ate dinner and decided to go to town for a little while. As I was on my scooter heading to town I looked up at the sky and noticed something that I never really paid any attention to.. I noticed, though it was not dark yet or even dusky for that matter, the moon had already started to ascend. I looked back to see the sunlight, although hidden behind a cloud, still shining bright as though it was never planning to go down. At that very moment in time I couldn't help but think of the book of Job. God, after defending Job to satan had allowed satan to test Job. Satan had taken everything Job had, everything he had worked for. His children died, his crops, servant and animals we burnt up in a fire from heaven, or put to the sword by those invading the land. Job was inflicted with painful sores, from head to toe. Job began to eventually curse the day of his birth, he began to question God... But no sooner did he start, God spoke to him..
Read closely what God says, "Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?"
Imagine, God, OUR FATHER, did and continues to do all these things. it is unimaginable.. I can not realistically comprehend this fully. What I do know, is exactly what Job knew after hearing this and the following chapters as God continues to describe himself.. Job responded lastly with this “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."
Will I every understand the greatness of my God, I will.. I will understand His greatness completely on the day I see him in Glory. The day that we arrive at eternity's shore.. The day that His bride stands before him singing "Holy, Holy, Holy." For today, I will take that image of His greatness, the image of the moon rising before the sun sets and I will seek knowledge, and continue running earnestly towards Him, fully anticipating the day I see Him face to face, and finally understand His greatness. My friends, our God is great, He is mighty, all powerful, merciful, forgiving, loving, unconditional, constant .. All we have to do is look at his creation, look at the stars in the sky, the brightness of the sun shining on your face each day, the perfection of a snow flake or the frequency of a rainbow. Our God loves us, and he is showing us each day. Seek the Creator, run to him, enjoy his creation, and be BLESSED by His love!!!
Jessica.
(Scripture is found in Job 38:4-41, 42:1-3)