God is Indescribable - Master of All

 

[The Lord said to Job] “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass? Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.” (Job 38:22–30 ESV).

 

The picture I have included in today’s devotional is one of the first homes I grew up living in. The picture was taken over fifty years later than those childhood days, and a lot of remodeling has taken place. It is in Galveston, Texas. The first floor was entirely occupied by our family-owned grocery store. In those days the big supermarkets had not made their way into our culture and the corner grocery/meat market was an integral part of the community. We lived on the second floor of the structure. It was a two-bedroom, one bath home. I remember well the three twin beds where my brothers and I slept in one of those bedrooms. It seemed plenty big to me as I was growing up. Now, I wonder how we managed!

 

That seems to be a common theme as we get older and look back. The things that looked really big when we were a child don’t seem so big when you are older. But it’s not just the size of things that seems different; our perception of time changes too. When I was a boy, a summer night seemed to last and last, and a school year seemed to go on forever. Life changes as we age. Congested calendars and stacked schedules abbreviate our lives. Deadlines, commitments, and requests beg, steal, and borrow our attention from the beauty of life and the creation God has given us to care for and enjoy.

 

Maybe even more tragic is that we can lose our sense of God’s grandeur as we grow older. As children, we tend to view God as huge and magnificent, someone with incredible power and ability, able to do even more than any superhero! As we age and live longer, though, we can tend to question God’s actions, critique his plans, and challenge his authority. We might even believe we know what’s best for us, thinking we know our situation better than God does.

 

This is something of the context of our reading today. Job has come to question God in his pain and suffering. God’s answer is very clear: “Where were you when I created and ruled over all that is?” God is not being condescending or cruel. Job’s suffering was enormous; however, God’s power and promise was much greater. Job comes to understand that after this revelation. He turns to God in submission and recognizes God’s greatness.

 

There’s the message for us today. We need to turn to our Creator and ask for his mercy, for he holds us in his hands and truly loves and cares for us always. Trust Him. He alone is the Master of All!