Job CCCXXVI

 Job 38:19-30, “Where is the way of the dwelling light? And darkness, where is its place, that you may take it to its territory, that you may know the paths to its home? Do you know it, because you were born then, or because the number of your days is great? Have you entered the treasury of snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? By what way is light diffused, or the east wind scattered over the earth? Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, or a path for the thunderbolt, to cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, a wilderness in which there is no man; to testify the desolate waste, and cause to spring for the growth of tender grass? Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth? The waters harden like stone, and the surface of the deep is frozen.”

There are individuals roaming about today who believe they are perfectly within their rights to argue, question, disagree, debate with, and go toe-to-toe with God on a variety of topics He has already made clear where He stands in His word. I have come to believe that such individuals do not fully understand who they are dealing with, whom they are attempting to debate and disagree with, for if they did, if they understood that they’re trying to get smart with the One who divided a channel for the overflowing waters and a path for the thunderbolt, they would be more reticent to do so.

The angels, the elders, the living creatures all bow down, fall on their faces, cry out holy, holy, holy, but man regularly decides to square up to God and insist that He change for their sake rather than they for His sake, because it would be easier for them in the long run. Anyone who chooses the way of rebellion isn’t fooling anyone but themselves, especially not God, who refuses to deal with you as with a toddler, because you aren’t one.

False shepherds have infantilized the sheep to the point that they remain in a perpetual state of spiritual lethargy, because one who is barely alive, barely animated, is far easier to control and manipulate than one who stands in the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit, fully armored and ready for battle.

What’s worse is that some get resentful when another’s zeal exposes their own apathy. Rather than encourage the sheep to press in, seek out, grow, and mature, they grow combative and begin a campaign of undermining them and ever so slowly shun them as though they were the problem.

If you’ve found a church with a shepherd that insists it is your duty and obligation to study the Word, to spend time in prayer, to build up your most holy faith, to press in, and desire more of God with each passing day, be thankful. No, he’s not giving you homework to add something new to your already burgeoning workload; he is genuinely interested in your spiritual well-being.

But isn’t he paid to feed me? No, he’s not. His duty is to rightly divide the Word and present it to you. It’s your job to feed yourself. It’s your obligation to take the truth of God’s Word and allow it to nourish you, take root in your heart, and transform you.

If an adult enjoys the act of spoon-feeding another adult, it’s not because they’re being gracious and charitable; it’s because they like the implied control that being in charge of what another consumes, and how much of it they consume, brings them. There are no gatekeepers to the Word of God. At any time during any given day, you can pick up your Bible, sit down somewhere quiet, and begin to consume it for yourself.

Yes, there is a place for pastors, teachers, evangelists, and preachers, but their duty isn’t to baby you into the kingdom; it’s to provide the necessary tools to make you a warrior for the kingdom.

The more God reveals His attributes to Job, the more in awe of Him we should be. Whether His omnipotence, sovereignty, or power, upon reading the things God says about Himself, we cannot remain indifferent or unchanged.

God is not a one-hit wonder. He didn’t chance upon a hum-worthy tune in the 90s and has since been living off the royalties. Man may be the crowning jewel of God’s creation, the only created being to be made in His image and after His likeness, but the rest of creation is no less than staggering in both size and scope once we begin to line item all the things He references.

God speaks of things only He would know, such as the treasury of snow and hail, which to someone living in the desert would have been as mysterious and unfathomable as autonomous self-driving vehicles to someone living in the 16oos.

Given the region Job lived in, it is unlikely he’d ever seen snow for himself. You don’t get a lot of blizzards in the desert. Sandstorms? Sure, there are plenty of those, but as far as snow is concerned, that would have been as impossible to fathom for Job as rain had been to Noah.

Sometimes God says things the mind of man cannot perceive or understand. That does not make it any less true, real, or viable. Just because I’ve never seen something or grasped how it could possibly function does not invalidate it or mean that it cannot exist.

Through it all, Job never attempted to interrupt. He never raised his hand and asked what snow was, or what the springs of the seas were, or how the water can harden like stone and the surface of the deep freeze. He sat and listened, in awe of the God he served, relieved and refreshed that He was speaking to him once more.

Yes, God is a good Father, but that’s not all He is. If we reduce Him down to that one attribute, great and noble as that one thing might be, we will never see Him in all His majesty and grandeur. There is thought and intent put into the smallest detail, including a path for the thunderbolt. Yes, to you and me it may seem random, but God says it isn’t. Even something as commonplace as a thunderbolt has a predetermined path, one that God took into account and willed for His own purpose. That is the God we serve. If you are in awe of Him, it is a well-deserved awe.         

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.