“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.”
Job 38:4
When we’re “still and know that He is God” (Ps. 46:10), it should move us to hushed awe, praise and surrender.
Dear Pilgrim, how long has it been since you ceased from your hurried, harried “much-to-do-about-nothing” schedule and did nothing but meditate on “the Mystery, Majesty and Might” of God? How long since you just sat and watched ants or bees at work? How long since you laid down in the grass and watched a high-flying bird overhead, floating effortlessly on the wind currents? How long since you watched the sun rise over the eastern horizon or watched in wonder as God painted the sky at sunset?
That long, huh?
Isn’t it time for a little “R&R?”
You know: “Reverencing and Rejoicing?”
Oh how shallow our lives! Oh how superficial our praise!
Job had been blessed beyond compare and “was the greatest of all men of the east” (1:3b).
He had an abundance of land, livestock and servants (1:3a). He had 10 beautiful children (1:2). He was a “morally upright man who feared God and avoided evil at all costs” (1:1). And, he tried to be the type spiritual leader for his family that he should be (1:5).
But, it took him losing everything (1:6-29) to reveal he’d “not arrived yet” (Phil. 3:13a). It took his suffering painful boils on his body (2:1-7), a lack of support from his wife and friends (2:9-13; 13:4; 16:2) and God’s stripping away his veneer of pride and self-righteousness (32:1; 33:8-11, 13a; 34:5; 35:2) to remind him of Who God is and what we are apart from Him.
Truly, apart from Him we’re a “Big, Fat Zero” and can do nothing (Jn. 15:5).
And, it’s only when we realize this that we begin having Godly wisdom that moves us to rightly worship Him (Job 28:28; 37:23-24; Prov. 1:7; 15:33).
Only God could create something out of nothing (Gen. 1:2). Only God could create a planet like earth. . .tilt it at just the right angle. . .spin it at just the right speed. . .position it at just the right distance from the sun so it wouldn’t be too cold or too hot. . .and place an atmosphere around it with just the right combination of gases to support life.
Although He has blessed us with the ability to understand the ins-and-outs of gravity, photosynthesis, reproduction, respiration, conductivity, etc., we should never lose sight from Whence our blessings come. And, such knowledge should lead us to praise, not pride.
Truly, only the “fool has said in his heart there is no God” (Ps. 14:1; 53:1).
The Lord has given ample Evidence of His creative handiwork so no one can offer Him an excuse for not believing (Ps. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:20). Therefore, let us live today in conscious contemplation of His Greatness, which should then lead us to surrender to His Lordship.
August 23, 2011
