Day 36 – Chapter 38

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will instruct you, and you instruct Me!’ (38:1-3) ‘Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?’” (38:12-13)

Who would not want to hear God speak audibly? After hearing from his so-called friends, now Job finally gets what he has been asking for, he hears directly from God. Right at the beginning of this chapter we read “the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind.” I found myself wondering what whirlwind the writer was referencing. There does not appear to be any kind of whirlwind in the previous chapters, so perhaps there is a deeper Word to be gleaned. As I reflected I found myself getting happy because I realized that God answered Job out of the whirlwind that was his situation, all of it, and not some sort of violent weather pattern. That is good news because most of us wonder where God is in the storm in which we find ourselves and here He is in the midst of it all the time. We are looking for Him believing that He is not present and He is right here with us just like He promised when He said that He would never leave us.

But not only is God with us, He possesses the power to do whatever needs to be done in us and in our situations. When He speaks to Job He does so with a series of questions. The questions are rhetorical; they do not need an answer because the answer is obvious. Job does not have the power or the presence to do what God has done and only God can do. In Job’s situation such a revelation is good news and bad news. The good news is that there is nothing impossible with God, so Job’s situation, dire though it may be, is of little consequence to God. The bad news is that Job is out of order imploring God as if He were a human being. Job has forgotten that he is speaking to the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and the Omega, the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father, so to question Him or His motives, to scrutinize His decisions or even His lack of a decision is to step into an arena where we does not belong.

If we look at what Job has said so far, we can see where God has been long-suffering. He has listened to Job complain, beg and plead without comment and without retribution until now. I read that and am filled with gratitude for the amount of restraint He shows me simply because He loves me; and, just as He chooses a particular moment in time to speak to Job so He also has an appointed time to respond to our need. I don’t know when that time will be, but I know it will be out of the midst of the whirlwind blowing in my life. So shall it be in yours as well.

Thank You, God, for being patient and long-suffering with me. You listen to me whine and sob and cry without interruption and without correction. You watch me look to other devices hoping to find the relief that can only be found in You. You see the disappointment on my face and in my body language when things have not worked out in the manner I had hoped when I tried things on my own. Then at the right time, when I come to the end of my rope You spoke to me out of the whirlwind that is my life. Thank You for the reminder that You are ever with me. Amen.