"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 'Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you....Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?-- when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38, ESV)
?!?!? The Word of God's response to Job may seem to some as a little harsh, "insensitive" to a suffering soul, "Now prepare yourself like a man...." But it does sound to me just like our Lord Jesus Christ and His Words to me after Stephen passed from this life to the Next.
People who have meant the most to me in my sojourn here are people who spoke truth, spoke and acted toward me in a manner which enabled me to do better, not as some tourist at Disney World. It was reality "comfort," not sympathy, cliche, nice-guy stuff. Enter the Lord God of the Universe. Job's "friends" and the young know-it-all were accusatory; God called Job, however, to face the reality of just Who Is The Living Triune God. It was another moment in history of, "I Am Who I Am....Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I Am has sent me to you.'"
And, we can say the same to the world today in the midst of turmoil, suffering, confusion, "I Am has sent me to you." This is Who sends you and me into the maelstrom of life. I confess that at times over my life I have attempted to explain more than declare. Billy Graham once said, "The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of God; it assumes it." You and I are called today to "assume" the power of, "The Word of God," Himself, Jesus the Christ. Jesus is under no obligation to prove anything to you and me. All He asks of us concerning His Words are that we "assume" Them/Him. He does the rest.
Father, in Jesus' Name, convict me any time I try to "prove" more than "assume." Amen.
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Update on the stupidity of Europe. USA next? Go to: jhs58.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
