Living in the Spirit
October 15, 2018
Scripture Reading: Job 38:1-7, (34-41)
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? –Job 38:1-7
We humans thought the world was flat until we discovered it was not. The world is an amazing reality. Although we have come a long way in understanding it, I think we have just scratched the surface. Even the things we do know about our world do not seem to matter much to us in our role of having dominion over the earth. We take the world for granted until the world spews forth its displeasure with our behavior in fulfilling our role of being responsible caretakers rather than pillagers of its resources.
The writer of Job has God asking Job the breadth of Job’s understanding of his world and how it functions. How do he and each of us fit into the workings of the world about us. God is calling Job to look at the bigger picture. I hear that happening in interviews with people who have lost all their material possessions following a recent hurricane. “We survived, that is all that matters, the rest is just material that can be replaced.” Each speaker clearly understands how much toil and tears await them in the recovery and it is that bigger picture that provides them the strength to continue.
Of course, in the story of Job, his family was lost. The final count of lives lost is yet to be determined in the hurricane as rescue and recovery search through the debris left behind. Some may have lost their families like Job. Like Job, though they are finding themselves in the broader family of God as people they did not know before, love them enough to care for them as they start the hard road back from severe loss.
Just as God charged us to care for the earth, he calls us to care for all that is within it including all God’s children.
Prayer: Lord, make us mindful of our role as caretakers of the earth and its peoples. Amen.