Creation Puts Us To Shame

Who shut up the sea behind doors

when it burst forth from the womb,

when I made the clouds its garment

and wrapped it in thick darkness,

when I fixed limits for it

and set its doors and bars in place,

when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;

here is where your proud waves halt’?

Job 38:8-11

A few weeks ago, I went to the beach on vacation. I love to watch the waves crash into the shore. It's almost like the hit a barrier that they cannot pass. In fact, this is basically what the passage above saves is true. At creation God told the seas, "You can go this far and no further," and they continue to obey Him perfectly. They never go beyond the boundaries He set for them except at His command. The same is true of the stars and celestial bodies. God set them in their course, and they keep to it, never deviating from it except at His command. In fact, Psalm 74:17 says of God, "It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth..." God placed boundaries on all His creation, and the whole of creation obeys His command to this very day, never transgressing the boundaries He has put in place... except for man.

You see, God has placed boundaries on mankind as well. Particularly on our behavior. He has told us, "You may go this far and no further." But we transgress His command, don't we? Ever since Adam and Eve transgressed that first boundary our hearts have been unruly and untamable. In this way, creation puts us to shame. It is perfect in obedience, where we are anything but. 

That is why Christianity must be about more than just forgiveness of sins. It must also be about lordship. Becoming a Christian is more than just asking for forgiveness for all the times you've transgressed God's boundaries. It is also about submitting yourself to His boundaries and ordering your life by His authority again. Romans 10:9 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

So, let all of us who have confessed Jesus as Lord, take a lesson from the rest of creation, and submit ourselves to the limits God has placed on us. He created us, and He has the right to tell us "You can go this far and no further." 

Have you been coloring outside the lines? Is there a boundary you have been crossing? If so, it isn't a trivial thing. Ask forgiveness and submit yourself to God. 

How Faint a Whisper We Hear of Him

And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

Job 26:14

A while back I got bored with reading Scripture. I tired of going to church. I wasn't quite arrogant enough to say I knew everything there was to know about God, but I was convinced I'd read it all before and there really wasn't anything new for me to find in the Bible. You have to understand, I've been in church since I was four. I was convinced I'd heard all the stories, learned all the lessons, and sat through all the sermons. But I couldn't have been more wrong! This was nothing more than a tactic of the Adversary. I was deceived. Satan had actually succeeded in convincing me that learning about God - the most beautiful, powerful, interesting, and exciting being one can imagine - was boring. Today's verse captures well just how blind I was. 

The heart of theology is to know God; and when you set out to know an infinite being, you can never be finished learning. If God is infinite, there simply cannot be an end to what you don't yet know about Him. All that I have learned about God in my many years of church attendance and seminary study barely scratches the surface of what His Word reveals about Him. Even if I plumbed the depths of His revelation of Himself through Scripture, even that is only the outer fringes of His works. It's just a faint whisper of who He really is. But oh what a whisper it is! 

If I were to uncover all the mysteries of His creation, if I were to gain understanding of His great wisdom in ordering events and overwhelming chaos, if I were to grasp the unfathomable might of His power that He exercises in all His deeds... even then I still would not be any closer to exhausting all there is to know about our infinite and eternal God. There will always be more to His goodness, His wisdom, His being than we can comprehend. There will always be more reasons to praise Him. Knowing God is truly a lifelong task. Indeed, one lifetime is not nearly enough time, but it is all we have. So let's spend our lives studying what God has revealed about Himself to us in His Word, and then may we know the great joy of spending our eternity studying the fullness of God's glory face-to-face.

For further reading...

• If you are looking for help getting to know the depths of who God is, I suggest a little book written by A. W. Tozer entitled The Knowledge of the Holy.

Poison Sumac Praise

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But [Job] said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job 2:9-10

I'm miserable. I have large goose egg blisters on my elbows and forearms from a poison sumac plant I managed to get into as we cleared brush at the church this past weekend. I've had poison ivy and poison oak many times but these are the largest blisters I've ever seen. It is uncomfortable for me to bend or move my arms because they are all blistered around my elbows. And it is nearly impossible to rest them on my desk or on the arms of my chair without hitting a blister and causing pain or discomfort as well. So again, I'm miserable.

It makes me think of Job. He was covered with boils from head to toe. He had it a lot worse than I do. Job's words challenge me today, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” Who am I to tell God what I will and will not receive from Him? I have no right. God is God, so I will simply trust Him and receive what He sends my way. So today I choose to rejoice. Not in my painful blisters, but in all the amazing blessings God has poured out on me. The fact of the matter is that this little outbreak is the only thing in my life that I have to complain about. In every other way I am blessed beyond measure. 

You know if we aren't careful it's easy for us to focus on the few negative things in our lives and let them sour our attitude toward God, when what we should really be doing is offering up to Him unending praise for the countless blessings He has poured out on us. If you are tempted to grumble and complain about your condition or some situation in your life, take a break from focusing on the negative and choose to spend a minute thinking about all the positive things God has given you. No ask yourself Job's question. Is it right for you to receive good from God, but refuse to receive evil? God is God. Trust Him. And praise Him no matter what.

Bringing Increase by Decreasing (W.o.W. Rewind)

An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 

To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

John 3:25-30

You can almost hear the panic in the voices of John's disciples. They're concerned that John (the prophet and teacher to whom they have dedicated their lives) is losing his influence. By reading between the lines a little, you even sense a small amount of disdain toward Jesus and His ministry. "The one you testified about," they say. You were so gracious to Him. You honored and exalted Him and now He is encroaching on your turf! He is baptizing and people are going to Him instead of you. This, of course, presents a real problem for John the Baptist. He is kind of pigeon-holed into a certain type of ministry now. He is called John the Baptist after all.

John's response to his disciple's is truly remarkable. Like Job he acknowledges that all he has in life comes from God and ultimately will return to God. John points out that the same is true for Jesus. "If Jesus is receiving influence as mine is waning, then it is because God has chosen to take it away from me and give it to Him," John says. He continues with a wedding metaphor. "Jesus is the groom," he says. "I'm the best man." Does it make sense for the best man to be angry and jealous that the groom is getting married? No! The best man should rejoice and be happy for his friend. So too, John says, "That joy is mine, and it is now complete."

John knows that this isn't his story. He isn't the main character, but he can find joy in playing his part well. He dares not try to steal the lead role from Jesus. "He must become greater; I must become less," John says. In other words, "It's not about me!" What John wanted more than anything was for God's kingdom to advance in this world. Everything else in life was secondary to that goal, even his own personal fulfillment and social standing. His disciples had momentarily lost sight of that.

We sometimes do as well. We work so hard to get ahead at work, to build a life for our family, to build a program or Bible study at church that before we know it we get caught in the trap of thinking that life is about us or our ministries. We make the mistake of thinking that these things are the end goal themselves. They are not. They are merely a means to the end of bringing glory to God and advancing the gospel. Sometimes the gospel advances when you are transferred to a lower paying position or when your hopes for your family are thwarted or even when your church doesn't keep pace with the growth of the church down the street. In those moments how will you respond? Are you willing to decrease so that Jesus might increase? Will you continue to serve Him faithfully even when things aren't going your way? Do you serve God to advance the cause of Christ simply because God deserves your faithful service or are you just trying to make a name for yourself?

Drawing nearer to God almost always requires some form of self-denial. It requires taking up our cross and dying to our selfish desires so that He might use us more effectively for His glory. Are you willing to decrease so that Jesus might increase in your family, office, or church?

For further reading...

• Job 1:1-2:10- Job understood his place in relation to God.
• Mark 12:28-30- The greatest commandment requires that God hold first importance in our lives.

*A version of this post was originally published on this blog under the title "What is Your Life About?" on 12/14/11.

Faultfinder

And the Lord said to Job: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.” Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

Job 40:1-8

I've spent the last four days with thirteen 4th-6th graders at kids' camp. That means for the last few days I've experienced more than my normal share of fun, sunscreen, swimming, belly flops, games, skinned knees, and...complaining. I really enjoy kids' camp but it doesn't take long for the complaints to get to me. This year it only took me a day to institute a no complaining rule. All offenders were required to do 10 pushups on the spot. This helped keep the attitudes in check quite nicely.

Over the same few days I finished reading the book of Job in my personal quiet times with the Lord. I couldn't help but wonder how often the Lord feels the same way with us. Does God ever just get sick with all of our complaining and want to tell us to drop and give him ten?

 

Although I have no doubt that God is more patient than me, I have to imagine He does often grow weary of our whining. In the book of Job, God allows Satan to attack Job in order to test his love for Him. Job remains faithful to God but complains throughout the book that he is unjustly persecuted by Him. Job claims that he has done nothing to deserve such punishment from God. In chapters 38-42, the Lord answers Job's complaints. Though God does justify Job as a righteous man, He takes him to task for complaining. In the passage above God calls Job a "faultfinder." And then He says to him, "Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?"

 

Do you find fault with God and complain about your lot in life? Maybe it doesn't always come out of your mouth but how often do you think it? How often does your spirit cry out against Him- "This isn't fair, God!" Too often this is true of me. Let us all allow this passage to give us a loving rebuke...a gentle warning. God is holy and just. We do not have the perspective, knowledge or wisdom to sit in judgment of Him. So receive whatever comes your way with humility. Endure suffering like Jesus Himself did, by focusing on the joy set before you (Heb 12:2). Trust that God is still good and that He is still in control. Humble yourself under His hand and in due time He will lift you up (I Peter 5:6).

 

For further reading....

• I Peter- Focus on the meaning of I Peter 5:6 in the context of what the entire book has to say about suffering in the life of the believer. Specifically focus in on I Peter 4:12-5:10.