Jump Start # 239

Job 38:22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouse of the hail”

  It’s a cold, snowy, winter morning for us today. That’s just the way it is living in the Midwest in the winter. We tend to pay more attention to the weatherman when the weather is severe. We like to know the forecast so we can make our plans. About all the weathermen can do is give us a few days forecast. Beyond that, winds shift, things happen and they just don’t know.

  Our passage from Job today is about snow. It is found at the end of the book where God speaks to Job for the first time. Job and his friends have been debating what God does for more than 30 chapters. Job has questioned God, as many hurting hearts do. We ask “Why?” Why now? Why me? Why this? And during all this, God has remained silent. Finally He speaks.

  He doesn’t answer Job’s questions. God doesn’t answer to us. He wants Job to understand God. If you are going to question and challenge God about something as delicate and deep as human suffering, then you ought to understand other things. God gives Job a list. They come in the form of questions. There are more than 60 questions God asks Job. Job can’t answer these. No one can

  Our verse today, is one such question. “Have you entered the storehouse of the snow…” In other words, how much is it going to snow? Not just today. Not tomorrow. Not even this season. Or, there are predictions. Farmer’s Almanac tells what kind of winter we may have. I’ve heard folks say that looking at a squirrels tale will tell you. I’ve not gotten that close to a squirrel to understand that. Others will tell you to look at a wooly worm. But all these are simply guesses. No one knows, and that’s just for this year.

  How much is it going to snow in your lifetime? We can’t answer that. First of all, we don’t know how long we are going to live. There are certain things only God knows. Sometimes we wish we knew, but I wonder even about that. Would you want to know today, when and how you are going to die? God knows. I don’t want to know. I think it would just mess me up on the inside too much to know that.

  The point God is making with Job is that you don’t know much about what all I do and what all I know. You are not in the position to judge God. You are not in the position to say, “Why, God.”

  That’s hard for us. We blame God for the bad, but fail to praise Him for the good. When we are sick or having a bad day, we pray. Do we thank God for the days we feel fine and are having a good day?

   It’s easy to try to bring God down to our level, to assume He is like us. But He’s not. And what’s harder, is for us to try to step up and live on His level. To be holy, and pure and compassionate, and focused and a blessing to others, that’s the way God is.

  How much snow? I like snow in December, it makes the holidays like a postcard. But once January comes, I’m done with snow. God’s not. He has a warehouse full of snow. And only He knows how much He’s sending this year.

  God is amazing! The bigger question, more than how much snow, is why in the world does He love us so much? I’m glad He does, aren’t you?

Roger