Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Thursday, December 9
By Linda Cox
Confronted by God
Read Job 38:2 (The Message)
“Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?”
I love chapters 38-42 of Job. After suffering his ‘friends’ and their harangue about why he has lost everything, Job got in a few licks of his own. He became angry at God, and wanted to take Him to court to answer for the agony he was experiencing. Brought to attention with one of the first questions God asked him: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?”, Job was subjected to a flood of questions: “What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed? Does the rain have a father? Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.”
Who is willing to argue that statement? Job said he knew God could do anything, that His plans couldn’t be thwarted and that he had spoken of things he didn’t understand, “things too wonderful for me to know.” God asserted that Job had maintained his integrity; his health and wealth were restored; he fathered ten more children and lived another 140 years.
Our confrontation with God is more subtle, more like a whisper, sometimes a nudging. In this Advent season, we are confronted by a baby who came into the world without riches but who can now declare, “Everything under heaven belongs to me.” Praise His name!
Prayer
Lord, thank you for coming to us as you did and for all you’ve done for us since. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
