A few days a week, our notoriously chaotic and tardy household experiences a mini miracle. Somehow, we make it downstairs in time to eat breakfast, and inevitably, my four-year-old daughter asks to listen to her favorite catechism songs. And before I’ve had one sip of coffee, it starts: kid voices, electronic synth background music, and “GOD IS THE CRE-A-TOR OF EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING!” Then it repeats, and repeats again, and even in my pre-caffeinated state, I’m aware and grateful that this will be the song my girl has stuck in her head all day.
“What is God?” The answer to this question, in some form or fashion, is foundational to every Church creed. It’s also touched upon in the very first sentence of Scripture. Everything started from God, who has no beginning and no end. And implicit in the story of creation is the sheer goodness, creativity, and affection of our Maker.
This is the truth God thunders from the whirlwind when He appears to the long-suffering Job. His speech in chapters 38 and 39 hearkens back to the story of creation in Genesis chapter 1: God created the earth and sea, the light and dark, the weather, the stars, and the animals (Job 38:4–39:30).
God presents two challenges to Job during His speech, and these two chapters contain the first. God is essentially asking, Do you understand how all this was made? How it all works? He is challenging Job’s finite understanding with all these questions. He’s challenging Job’s focus on himself.
God is not finished with His speech, but the start of it is more than enough for Job to fall back into his place. He has been reminded of Who he is speaking to, and just what the Maker of heaven and earth is capable of doing. And we, like Job, can marvel at His majesty and find our provision in His mercy.
The Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563, poses this question and answer about the first line of the Apostles” Creed:
Question: What do you believe when you say,“I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”?
Answer: That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ the Son. I trust God so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends upon me in this sad world. God is able to do this because he is almighty God and desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.
God is almighty and faithful, full of mercy and majesty, creativity and care. As He declares His infinite holiness in these chapters, He does so to one man, Job. But God’s message is an eternal, cosmic truth, an invitation for each of us to rest in the security of knowing that we, too, are intimately loved by our Creator.
Okay, so I can’t get past the first paragraph…your four-year-old daughter asks for catechism songs? My kids wouldn’t even know what that word means. :-( So I’m excited for how you’re sowing into your kids, but defeated by how I’ve failed my kids…again.
Hi Jill, I think all of us moms feel like that at different moments. Hang in there and keep in His word. He will help it flow out of you so you can turn and share it with your kids in new ways. Recently I’ve been reading “Walking with God in the season of motherhood” by Melissa Kruger. It’s practical and been helpful. I would recommend it.
i read that and prayed that i’d be able to have a family some day so i can teach them to follow God like this and to teach them his Word
My kids don’t learn catechism, but we talk about faith together. When my eldest was little he would tell God jokes. 2 of my kids have autism and I’m learning that God is bigger than one (or two) parenting styles…
It was such a good reminder that God really does see everything, every detail, He hears every thought and He listens to every conversation.
I just listened to a podcast interview of a man named Stephen Meyer. He is a scientist who studies ‘Intelligent Design’. First of all, I am in awe that God created a mind that can grasp these complex concepts. Secondly, how amazing our God is to have designed this world. I love that the more our world is studied, with ever increasing tools and knowledge, the more it is revealed that there had to be a Designer. Darwin’s evolution theory is crumbling.
Angie, I am still pondering what your precious grandson said about his Sunday School lesson . I live on a mountain and walk the woods every day. So often as I walk I sing about God’s majesty, but this week especially I’ve been singing ‘This is my Father’s world and to my listening ears”.
We can rest in the thought, “This is my Father’s world, oh let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yer. Our God is an Awesome God, let us not forget that as we start a new day!
These are some notes I had written in my Bible for these two chapters:
Chapter 38. “Sometimes I need to broaden my perspective by lifting my eyes off the ash heap of my distressing circumstances and redirect my attention to the life-giving majesty, eternal wisdom and exceptional power of my God so that I can live in the glorious light of who He is. And sometimes it takes a whirlwind for God to get my attention.”
Chapter 39. “It seems God wanted to shift Job’s focus and teach Job that the strength to persevere through his difficult season was found not in knowing the why regarding suffering but in knowing the who.”
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Tricia, God brought you to my heart and mind last night and today. God is going before you. He loves you and will be your strength.
Kristen, my darkest times became my Light. May that be the case for you as well. Every single time an anxious thought or panic attack came I gave them up immediately to prayer. When they were too dark for words, I sang hymns of worship, over and over and over. The result was God came near and peace was mine. He is with you.
May we each one hear and rest in these words of God’s in Job 38-41 – not because they are what a good person would do or because it is what is expected in our Christian culture, but because they are TRUE. God is all of this and so much more. The All-Powerful, Holy, Righteous God breathed His breath into each of us. He chose to give us life and has called us to be His own. He lives inside us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are His. Selah.
Thank you Angie, I know this was written for someone else, but I really appreciated reading this yesterday
Finally! Did anyone else feel like this slow devotional reading has you weary of the human back and forth, LONGING for the chapters where God finally weighs in? What a perspective to take into the mundane tasks of today — the world spins on, but He sees it all. He sees me, he has never not been in control, and there will be a day when Christ returns!
YES!!
I had the same reaction this morning! FINALLY ❤️ I know i could’ve read ahead in the Bible, but felt I’d be cheating on everyone in this study, lol. (This is my first time reading Job.)
Yes, I was feeling that too, and when I read your post I realized that I often move around the world seeking people to give their opinion to me, or tell me what’s next, or ask why I feel like I am in transition. Or how do I not live in fear with my son’s life threatened this week? I see now that I need to go to God, only.
Agree with all of you! I have been waiting for God’s reply and am not disappointed. HE IS! We need only hear His voice and be reminded that He is God. Our small finite selves cannot compare, we can only bow down. Praise be to God!
The song “Where Were You?” By Ghost Ship is powerfully written from these chapters of Job.
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