Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm.
He said,
Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
All the morning stars sang together,
And all the angels shouted for joy.
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?
Have you ever given orders to the morning stars or shown the dawn its place?
Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked into the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me if you know all of this.
What is the way to the place where lightning is dispersed?
Who cuts a path for the thunderstorm to water a land where no one lives?
Does the rain have a father who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters became hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion's belt?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead the bear with its cubs?
Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Who gives the ibis wisdom?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the earth sticks together?
Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy their hunger as they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?
Then Job replied to the Lord,
I know that you can do all things.
No purpose of yours can be thwarted.
My ears had heard of you,
But now my eyes have seen you.
There is a creator designed order and purpose in life and through all of nature.
We may question,
We may wonder,
Why me?
Why did this happen?
What is the purpose?
We can be sure of one thing,
We are never punished with evil.
Sometimes because of the free will that we are given as humans,
Things happen to us and around us that are outside of our control.
This is not a punishment,
But the result of a world that has fallen from Eden.
Yet through all of this,
God's sovereignty and grace remains.
It upholds us.
It offers an embrace that our restless souls can lean into.
It provides a rich warmth when our bodies and hearts desire comfort.
We do not need to be concerned with how life and creation will fall into place.
This is not our responsibility.
The one who knows the cycles and ebbs and flows of life's waters is in control.
Wrestling for control with our creator creates a turbulence in place of progress and growth.
Sometimes the first step is quieting ourselves,
Giving gratitude and praise where it is due and turning our face towards the sun,
Finding strength through resilience after the storm.
