Day 13: Job 35-37

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=job%2035-37&version=NIV

Job 37:13 - 14 - Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen. Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders.

In the first verse, Elihu gives us an answer the question, “Why?” There are three reasons he gives for the storms in our lives. At times he sends a storm for correction – a consequence to correct a behavior or to open our eyes to sin. It might be a way to correct our path – to get us back on the path of our purpose. The second reason he gives for sending a storm is his land. Some things occur for the greater good of our earth. A storm isn’t always just about one person. Sometimes it’s about a people. It makes me think about how after hurricane Ike, so many people got reconnected with their community. You heard story after story of neighbor helping neighbor. Normally you might be a little afraid if you saw someone walking around your neighborhood with a chainsaw, but after hurricane Ike, they were a welcomed sight. You’d see people just walking around going from yard to yard to do what Jesus called us to do…love our neighbor. I don’t know why God allowed hurricane Ike, but I do know that I saw a lot of love come out of that tragedy. The third reason Elihu gives for sending a storm is love. It might be a way to protect us from ourselves or from others. It might be a way to grow our faith or to cause us to seek Him. What Elihu wants to remind Job of is that God has his reasons and he is not our enemy.

The second verse Elihu asks Job to stop and consider. Stop complaining and focusing on yourself and consider the wonders of God. This is something that we tend to forget when we are in the midst of our suffering. We so blinded by our suffering that we focus on the whys – the why me’s and the why now’s - instead of focusing on God’s wonders. The thing is, God is in control of the storms of our lives. When the hurricanes and floods hit, we often fall into that trap where we get so focused on the storm that we end up missing the rainbow. What God wants us to do is to trust Him and it helps to build our trust if we consider his work and his wonders.

Here’s a list from Francis Chan’s book “Crazy Love” that shows a few of God’s wonders:

• A caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head
• The average elm tree has approximately 6 million leaves on it
• Your heart generates enough blood to squirt up to 30 feet
• 3000 species of trees in 1 square mile in the Amazon
• He created hundreds of types of bananas
• Spiders create 60 feet of silk in one hour
• God created more than 350,000,000,000 galaxies

But, ultimately, we have to stop and consider Jesus on the cross. Stop and consider that God gave His son to die for our sins. Stop and consider that He became sin who knew no sin. He paid the price with his blood – that’s correction. He did it for all his land. He laid down his life for us. He did it for love.

Next time you’re in a midst of a storm, remember that God is justified in His reason even if we don’t what that reason is. Stop and consider the cross and rest in the comfort of his precious, eternal love.

Today’s post is submitted by Kelly Coxe