Background
Job has suffered the loss of his family, his wealth and his health. His friends try to comfort him and try, to no avail, to explain to him why he is suffering. Eventually Job hears the voice of God and sees the situation from God’s perspective.
Bible Reading: Job 38:4-8, 22-24
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?
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail?
What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
Colossians 1:15-17
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
A Reflection
Standing on the seashore in Cornwall in June, with the sun setting late at night over the horizon, is both awesome and romantic; there were a number of other couples enjoying the same experience.
Venturing out a few hours later to see the stars in a clear sky with no light pollution is also a joy. And yet, even with the recent high-definition images of the galaxies, we only ever see an infinitesimally small part of God's amazing creation. Rather than fear what scientists may postulate about the origins of the universe, I rejoice at what they show us of God’s handiwork.
When I am tempted to think that the universe revolves around my needs and my concerns, it is good to step back and to see things from God’s perspective. I think this is what God was doing here with Job. In their own ways Job and his friends were looking for answers to life’s problems from within their own limited faith and understanding, rather than looking for answers from the One who laid out the earth’s foundation and caused the stars to sing.
Paul, writing to the church in Colossae, tells us that it was Jesus, God the Son, who created all things in heaven and on earth, and it is in him that all things are held together.
When the world around us, personally and globally, seems to be falling apart, let us step back to see things from God's perspective, and let us look to Jesus and trust him to hold it all, and us, safely together in his hands.
Pray:
Almighty God, lift my eyes from my own situation to see the glories of your creation and to trust that you hold everything together within your sovereign will.
Amen
Indescribable
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