Quick Note – Can you…?

Job 38-39

Job 40:1 – “And the LORD said to Job: ‘Shall a faultfinder contend with the almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.'”

I was reading Job 38 and 39 today for my daily Bible reading, and it forced me to consider the magnificence of God’s creation and how powerful our God must be.  Like Job, when troubles and trials come, it is easy for us to forget that our God is all-powerful and all-knowing and is in control of every part of life.  But when I read these two chapters, I was encouraged to remember who our God is. 

Job was struggling with the biggest trial he would ever face in his life.  He had just lost his cattle, his camels, his sheep, and his sons and daughters.  Following those troubles, he lost his health.  Then, when his friends came to comfort him, you could say he lost his friends, because rather than supporting him, they accused him of wickedness and said that he deserved what was happening.  Because of these trials, Job began to question God’s presence and love.  After Job had finished pouring out his heart, God responded to Job by asking him to consider creation and who has control of it all.  God constantly asked Job, “Can you…?” God told Job to think about the light in the day and the darkness at night and consider whether Job had the power to make sure everything would happen at the correct time.  God told Job to think about the stars and consider whether Job had the power to make sure that they were in the right place at the right time.  God told Job to think about all the animals in the world and consider whether Job could feed each and every one of them with the right food when they were hungry.  God even told Job to think about the weather and rain and to consider whether Job could make sure to provide rain in the desert when nobody is there.  God was basically asking Job, “Can you do what I do each and every day?” To these statements, Job could only reply by saying, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?  I lay my hand on my mouth.  I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.” (Job 40:4-5)  Eventually, Job would say that he repents with dust and ashes (Job 42:6).  He realized how powerful God really is. 

As I reflected on what God said to Job, I placed myself in Job’s place and asked myself the same things.  If it were up to me, could I make sure that every place in the world received rain when it needed it?  Could I make sure that the sun would shine each and every day at the appropriate time and set in the evening?  Could I feed every sparrow that flutters in the wind and every fish in the sea?  I can barely keep up with my own daily issues and problems, much less the rest of the world’s!  Yet our God handles each and every situation with His personal touch.  He takes care of every piece of land, every animal, and every person.  Our God is a great and powerful God, and He loves us so much that He still wants to spend personal time with each and every one of us. 

During this time of COVID-19 and civil unrest, when the world seems to be falling apart, it is easy to fall into discouragement and think that God is not there.  But if you consider all the things it takes for this world and this universe to run, how intricate each system needs to be in order for everything to continue functioning, you will be awestruck by the magnificent power of God.  So the next time you feel like doubting whether God is in control, just take a moment to reflect on just one part of nature (animals, land, weather, stars) and whether you could make everything concerning that part of nature work as it should.  You will quickly realize how powerful God really is!

Quick Note – Genesis 3:1-7 – Trusting God in the New Year

Genesis 3:1-7 – Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Today is the start of a new year.  For many of us, 2020 was a different and difficult year, whether it be due to loss of friends and family members due to the virus, loss of a job due to the economic recession/depression, or loss of emotional and mental support due to social distancing measures that kept interactions limited.  But whatever the case, a new year is upon us.  Although things won’t just magically change, because the number at the end of the year switched from a 0 to a 1, this new year is an opportunity to start afresh with new hope that this year will be better than the last.  And there is no better way to start than to dive into God’s Word. 

I decided to read through my Bible this year in a chronological manner, which means that I am reading it in an order that allows me to see what happens in a more historical context.  This reading plan starts me in Genesis and will eventually end in Revelation, but instead of reading it book by book, it will jump from passage to passage as it would happen in a timeline.  Because of this, the first reading of January had to be Genesis 1-3.  Although I have read this passage tens to hundreds of times in my life, I noticed an important lesson in Genesis 3:1-7, that I think is beneficial for us to remember as we go through the next year.  These seven verses recall an event known as the Fall of Man, because they describe how Adam and Eve gave into the temptation to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which they were forbidden to eat from.  This decision led to sin coming into the world, and all of mankind to fall into this sinful state that separates us from God.  They fell into this sin, because the serpent caused them to doubt two important things:  1) God’s Word and 2) God’s character.  These two doubts led them to circumvent God’s plan and give into temptation.  

1)  They doubted God’s Word.

In vs. 1, the serpent met Eve and said these words, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  God had only forbidden Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; they were allowed to eat of any other tree in the garden.  But the serpent twisted the words of God and made it sound like God was preventing them from eating any fruit of any tree.  His purpose was to sow seeds of doubt in what God’s Word actually said.  This tactic has been used by Satan thousands of times since then.  He twisted God’s Word when he tried to tempt Jesus Christ in Matthew 4.  He twisted God’s Word when he infiltrated the early church sowing false doctrine that needed to be corrected by Paul.  He continues to twist God’s Word today with many cults using verses from the Bible out of context to lead people who are looking for truth astray.  Doubt in God’s Word is a powerful tool in Satan’s arsenal against Christians. 

This is why it is very important that Christians should read and study the Bible every day.  Only by reading and meditating on God’s Word will we know what is actually in there and can combat the lies of the Devil.  If we observe how Jesus responded to Satan when being tempted, Jesus used the Scriptures.  If we want to be able to combat this doubt, we must know what is truly written and responded the same way.  If we look at how Eve responded in this passage, we find that she didn’t have a complete understanding of God’s command and because of it fell into the trap of the Devil.  She thought that not only was she not allowed to eat of the tree, she wasn’t even allowed to touch the tree, which God never forbade.  Without the knowledge she fell, and the same can and likely will happen to us, if we don’t know God’s Word.

At this start of the new year, everyone has an opportunity to spend time in God’s Word and to potentially even finish reading though it in one year by following a yearly plan.  It will only take about 15-20 minutes a day and will greatly expand your knowledge of who God is and what is in His Word.  After knowing these truths, remember that you can trust His Word.  God has promised throughout the Bible that He will keep each and every one of His promises.  He kept His promises to the people of Israel as stated in Joshua 21:45, “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”  He kept His promise to send the Messiah.  And He will continue to keep His promises as written in Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful…”  We need not doubt God’s Word; we can trust Him to be faithful. 

2)  They doubted God’s character. 

The second attack that the serpent instigated on Adam and Eve’s faith is written in vs. 4-5, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  He caused them to doubt God’s character.  With these words, the serpent depicted God as a narcissistic egomaniac, who cared nothing about His creation and only sought to further solidify a power dynamic.  But that is not who our God is.  God loved His creation, calling it good many times in Genesis 1 and 2.  God cared about Adam and Eve, wanting them to experience the best that life had to offer in His perfect timing.  God even spent time in the Garden with them.  God cared so much about mankind that He made sure to find and create the perfect helpmate in Eve.  He loved them.  Yet, because of the serpent’s words, Adam and Eve began to think that God didn’t have their best interests at heart.  They started to believe that God was keeping something good from them and went ahead of His timing and ate the fruit.  This ended up with them not becoming wise but feeling shame and guilt for their wrongdoing. 

The Devil will constantly try to cause us to doubt God’s character – to believe that God is selfish, uncaring, unforgiving, and/or unloving.  But when we read God’s Word, we see a very different depiction of God.  God cares and loves each and every one of us.  Even when we sinned, God sent His Son to die on the cross and restore our relationship with Him.  God is faithful, true, just, honest, merciful, and gracious.  He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever present.  He can and will do everything that is best for us, if we will but place our faith and trust in Him.  We need not doubt our God. 

So as we start this year, let us spend time in God’s Word, getting to know who He is and what His commands are.  Then let us never doubt His love and care for us.  Let us never doubt His faithfulness and strength.  Let us trust Him to take us through this year and every year of our lives.  Don’t let the doubts that might have began in 2020 due to the difficulties that came up, bleed into 2021 to cause you to doubt our God.  His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is great. 

If you need a Bible reading plan for this year, I recommend downloading the OliveTree Bible app. It has many plans for reading through the Bible in a year. Start today! https://www.olivetree.com/bible-study-apps/