From the Eye of the Storm

This past Sunday we began our new message series entitled, Questions GOD Asks Us, which will take us all the way up to Easter morning. The series is an exploration of ten questions asked by GOD to people in the Scriptures – five in the Old Testament and five in the New Testament – that hold relevance for us even today. These questions, as Pastor Mark taught on Sunday, have a three-fold purpose:

1. To help us reset our relational boundaries with GOD, coming to Him on His terms as opposed to ours (Exodus 19:5).
2. To give us dignity in the relationship, so we can work out our salvation with GOD’s help (Philippians 2:12-13).
3. To mold and shape us into the likeness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18).

When we think about GOD and questions, we probably gravitate toward the questions we have for Him. Since GOD wants to be in relationship with us, we need to pause and allow GOD the time and space to respond, acknowledging that He will often ask questions of us in return. We need to ponder GOD’s replies (even in the form of more questions!), so we can grow in relationship with Him and be made more like Jesus.

In our introductory message (which you can watch by clicking here: http://youtu.be/JR-g2lwxgko), Pastor Mark used Job 38:1-18 to illustrate how GOD used questions in a conversation with Job to reset the boundaries of their relationship. Framing this Scripture passage, we read these words that GOD spoke to Job: “I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers.... Tell me, since you know so much! Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer.” The questions that GOD asked Job worked to reset the boundaries of their relationship so Job could learn from, and be comforted by, GOD. As powerful as that concept is, there was a verse in that reading that did not really strike me until after the services were completed. In Job 38:1 – after Job had arrogantly and ignorantly peppered GOD with questions – we see the shift in the narrative: “And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm.”

There is no doubt that Job was going through the proverbial storms of life. He had been inundated with loss, struggle, and calamity, and he wanted to know why. So Job 38:1 tells us that GOD replied, but it started while Job was in the eye of the storm. If you think about a hurricane, you will recall that the leading edge of the storm first hits, and then the eye, which is calm compared to the rest of the storm. Once the eye passes, however, the second part of the storm hits. In this case, the first part of the storm was Job’s calamity and second part of that storm is GOD’s reply to Job. This GOD-driven part of the conversation starts in chapter 38 and goes all the way through chapter 41. Then, as chapter 42 begins, we read Job’s reply to GOD:

“[GOD] asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I (Job) admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. [GOD] told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I (Job) admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!”

So often we take our questions to GOD and dump them at His feet without providing GOD the time and space to reply. When we allow GOD time to reply, however, even in the form of more questions, we can discover the answers that we seek firsthand – with our own eyes and ears – from the very One who spun the universe into motion.

Up next in our series we will explore the first question in our series: Where Are You? GOD asked this question of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden right after the Fall (Genesis 3:1-13). GOD knew exactly where they were, but asked that question not just to probe Adam and Eve for their physical location, but their relational proximity to GOD as well.

Just as Adam and Eve were hiding, we have the tendency to hide from GOD and others when enduring the storms of life. As we hear GOD ask the question, “Where Are You?” you must consider if you are physically or figuratively hiding from GOD. Then, you can emerge from your hiding and meet the One who is relentlessly pursuing your heart for the salvation of your soul.

Have a great rest of the week and I hope to see you Sunday as we explore GOD’s question: “Where are you?”