STAND STILL

Today’s Reading: Job 36-37

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Here in the Judean Desert, beneath the historic mountain of Masada, you can see many large rock formations and crevasses created by flash floods washing down to the Dead Sea. This sky was the perfect backdrop for this dramatic rock. As our key verse says, “Consider the wondrous works of God!”

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 37:14

Listen to this, O Job; Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.

The theology of this young man Elihu was right on. However, his judgment of Job was unfair and far from correct in God’s eyes. God had said of Job, “There is none like him in all the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). We would do well to remember the words of Jesus, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). We can be theologically correct and not understand our fellow human being. We should all be encouraged by the fact that Elihu was correct when he said that God “does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous” (Job 36:7). In God’s eyes, we who have believed in Jesus are seen to be righteous. Back on the blog from August 23rd, we considered the righteousness which is ours. We may want to read that posting once more (click here).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I ask for grace to “stand still!” May I stop all my busyness for a time and take the time to meditate on Your “wondrous works.” Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I’m keenly anticipating the next four days of reading Job. God Himself begins to speak to Job! God’s description of nature and His creation is awe-inspiring to me.

I remember well heroes to me in Christian ministry. I heard Rev. Hope Smith say one day, “The way out of the rat race is to slow down and walk with God.” He and his ministry co-worker, Rev. Laurie Price, were an amazing team. They were Pastors of a Church called Evangel Temple, located (at that time) at the corner of Dundas and Bond Streets in Toronto, just a block west of what is known as the longest main street in the world, Yonge Street. They told the story of when Hope, who was injured and crippled in WW2, and Laurie, who had been injured in a car accident, were driving up Yonge Street in the late 1940s, when their old car stalled, backing up traffic for blocks. Horns were blowing and people were angry. From the waist up they looked like two able-bodied young men. No one could understand why they didn’t get out of the car and push it out of the way. In spite of all the fuss and rush of downtown traffic, they were totally at peace within themselves. It’s a humorous scene to imagine. Laurie was healed by God and gained great mobility later, and Hope continued with a serious limp throughout his life, but it never slowed him down. They impacted my life greatly when I was a teenager. They were filled with joy and incurable optimism. For some reason when I read the words in our key verse “stand still,” I thought of Laurie and Hope…by far the most unique ministry team I’ve ever met.

Yours for coming to a total stop once in a while in order to “consider the wondrous works of God,”

David