GOD SPEAKS... WE LISTEN

When all is said and done by Job and Job’s friends to figure out what was happening in his life and where God was in all of it, GOD speaks…

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Dress for action like a man; I will question YOU, and you make it known to ME.  Where were you when…?” (Job 38:2,3)

In the end God silences all discussion, all the opinions, all the human understanding and wisdom with the Truth that He alone is wise.  There will come a time possibly in this generation, when God will do this again.  Like Job and his friends we will stand before Him in silence.  We as a nation and as a Church are guilty of thinking our own thoughts and making our own ways,

re-imaging and revising truths that were established at the beginning of time.  We are continually recreating a world that suits us and meets our needs; recreating a church that suits us and meets our needs.  In our arrogance we have taken rights and responsibilities that are not ours to take.  In our arrogance we have created God in our own image and in boldness ask and expect God to bless us for our well doing.

This is not new behavior.  It has been occurring since the beginning of time and recorded for us in the Scriptures, to make us aware of the behavior and alert us of the failure and the consequences that will follow.  We have no excuse for our rebellion no matter how righteous it appears to ourselves and to others.

Through it all God has remained faithful in His love for us.  He gave us the Law; He gave us the Prophets; He gave us His Son.  What more can He give; what more can He do?  The ball is in our court.  Do we continue to speak in the wisdom of our own understanding; questioning God’s thoughts and ways and coming to our own conclusions?  Or do we repent of our arrogance and submit ourselves to God’s questions, God’s thoughts, and God’s ways that are much higher than ours?

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  To draw near to listen…Do not be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth, therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-3)