God's God This

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I read this scripture yesterday morning from Romans 11:33-34, and it impacted me powerfully.  My mind began to reel with all those who seem to feel at liberty with questioning the reality of God, or His intention.  “How could a loving God allow ______,” or “Where was God when ______?”  We hear it often, especially when we think of horrible natural disasters, or terrible acts of terrorism;  when we are touched by tragedy, or are blindsided by senseless violence.

I’d like to be completely self-righteous, but there have been a few occasions where the thought, “Where are You, God?” has wandered through my personal attempt to grapple with certain events—events that seemed to body-slam me against the wall of my own declaration of faith.  The unexpected death of a close friend; the loss of nearly all our worldly belongings; our seemingly forgotten desire to become parents; the suffering of friends, grieving the premature loss of a wanted, loved infant; the murder of a colleague—all of these events have rattled my cage, so to speak.  And no one would be surprised at that, I’m sure.

“God—WHERE ARE YOU?”  I wouldn’t be the first to ever ask that question.

But I know from the Word of God that above all, He KNOWS what He is doing.  I might not.  But the thing is—I DON’T HAVE TO.  And while I BELIEVE in a God that is able to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, I also understand that HE is GOD.  Not my message boy, not my pet.  When I pray, it’s not because I think I can hand Him a “honey-do” list; it’s because I know that He loves me completely, and He has my best interests at heart.  He knows everything that I am concerned about; He is well-acquainted with my inadequacies and quirks.  He is unsurprised by my question, and yours.  But He has some questions to ask us in return.  Just consider Job, and when the Lord FINALLY chose to speak about Job’s personal trial, what He had to say:

Job 38:2-7 NLT

“Who is this that questions my wisdom
    with such ignorant words?
³ Brace yourself like a man,
    because I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
⁵ Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
⁶ What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
⁷ as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels^[a] shouted for joy?”

Well, then. When you put it like THAT….and after two full CHAPTERS of God asking similar questions and pointing out the unfathomable expanse of His credentials, the Word records:

Job 40:1-2 NLT

Then the Lord said to Job,

² “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?
    You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

*crickets*

And, a few verses later:

Job 40:8-9 NLT

“Will you discredit my justice
    and condemn me just to prove you are right?
⁹ Are you as strong as God?
    Can you thunder with a voice like his?”

That swallowing sound you heard?  That was my pride.  It’s usually a rather tough, rather bitter horse-pill to swallow.  Sometimes, it requires me to choke it down. 

He continued His remarks concerning the finer points of His resumé for two full chapters.  Job had the good sense to be humble, proving that God was right in allowing him to endure the tremendous test that the enemy of his soul put Job through.  No one wants to endure what Job endured.  But Job recognized God’s sovereignty, and it was certainly a turning point.

Job 42:1-6 NLT

Then Job replied to the Lord:

² “I know that you can do anything,
    and no one can stop you.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
    It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
    things far too wonderful for me.
⁴ You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!
    I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.’
⁵ I had only heard about you before,
    but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
⁶ I take back everything I said,
    and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

It’s not that God gets some kind of vindictive pleasure through the suffering of our trials.  He’s not hateful like that.  However, He does ask His children to trust His motives, His plan, and most of all, His heart.  It’s so clearly evident in the love God lavished on Job following the desolation of his trial.

Job 42:10, 12-16 NLT

¹⁰ When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him TWICE AS MUCH as before! ^….

¹² So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. ¹³ He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters. ¹⁴ He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers.

¹⁶ Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. ¹⁷ Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life.

God can certainly handle our questions, but how powerful would it be if our FIRST response would be to trust Him implicitly?  I had an opportunity to watch a message preached by Anthony Mangun, Senior Pastor of the Pentecostals of Alexandria (LA), called “Where the Word of the Lord Is, There is Power.”  His scripture text resonated in my spirit, absolutely aligning with the thoughts God had dropped in my heart during my study time the previous morning.  Incidently, it was the self-same day as Bro. Mangun preached this message.  Speak, Lord!

Ecclesiastes 8:4 KJV

⁴ Where the word of a king is, there is power: and WHO MAY SAYEST unto him, What doest thou?

Not me.  Uh-uh.  No way.  Nopity-nopity-NOPE.  I’m going to let Him go on about His business, and let Him work.  Anyone else?  As Bro. Mangun says in the message, God ALWAYS answers.  But sometimes, the answer is NO.  And that is okay with me.  Why?  I know that whatever God chooses for me to experience, He is still in control. I don’t have to have all the answers, because HE is the only answer that matters.  When you read of the rest of Bro. Mangun’s scripture texts, just TELL me God can’t handle anything that this life throws my way.

Matthew 28:18 KJV

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Genesis 18:14^(a) KJV

¹⁴ Is any thing too hard for the Lord?

Jeremiah 32:27 KJV

²⁷ Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Jeremiah 32:17 KJV

¹⁷ Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

Matthew 19:26 KJV

²⁶ But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Luke 1:37 KJV

³⁷ For with God nothing shall be impossible.

WHERE THE WORD OF THE KING IS, THERE IS POWER—and healing, and comfort, and deliverance, and renewal, and purpose…and DESTINY.

Ephesians 3:20-21 KJV

²⁰ Now unto him that is ABLE to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL that we ASK or THINK, according to the POWER that worketh in us,

²¹ Unto HIM be glory in the church BY CHRIST JESUS throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

See, here's the thing:  in all of those hardships I mentioned that I endured at the beginning of this post--ALL of them--GOD has shown Himself FAITHFUL and TRUE.  He never left us; He never forsook us.  I look back on all of those horrible events, but I see through it all a God who never was at a loss for what to do, or who to send, or how to bring healing, strength, life--and yes, even JOY.  There is no other way to describe the goodness of God.  He gives beauty for ashes, indeed.

No matter what you're facing--Don't worry!  He's GOT this!  Just do your part to put yourself entire in the hands of a good, good Father.  He'll do the rest.