Take a Walk with Me - Pt. 9

 

Then Job answered and said: “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be zin the right before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength— who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?— he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number. Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” (Job 9:1-12 ESV).

 

With today’s attachment I have moved away from my beloved Smoky Mountains to Yellowstone National Park. Some years ago Mary and I, along with Mark and Susie Mincey, visited Yellowstone. In fact, we were able to stay in the area for a week taking our time to see as much of it as possible. One evening at sunset I looked to the west from the patio of the cabin where we were staying and was awestruck by the colors of the sky with the mountains in the foreground. The picture does not do it justice. There were many other sights that were inspiring. From the eruption of Old Faithful to the herds of Bison roaming across the valleys near the Lamar River, I was reminded of the creative genius and power of our God.

 

That thought brought me to a better understanding of how destructive is can be to forget who God is in favor of thinking we are somehow comparable. This is the pride that Proverbs warns “goes . . . before a fall.” In our reading today, Job finally comes to the same conclusion. Pride is a vision problem that we all struggle with. In our pride, we fail to see our true place in God’s scheme of things. The Bible condemns pride as the very cause of humanity’s rebellion and its deadly consequences. Forgetting that we are creatures, we reject God’s design for our lives. Thinking that we are superior, we nurture contempt for others.

 

Humility is the antidote to pride. True humility means clearly seeing our place in relation to God and the world he has made; it means treating God as God, and treating ourselves and others as his beloved creatures. That’s how God wants us to walk with him—treating everyone with due dignity and grace. Take that walk with me!