I went to a Beth Moore – Living Proof Live once and she was teaching on Job. Can I tell you my heart sank. You know how it is. Bubbling with excitement you find your seat and just know God has a word for you. Then…you find out your word is going to come from the book of Job. Immediately I began to dread my life. I became convinced that some terrible calamity was about to befall me or a loved one. God was preparing me. Surely you do that too, right? Don’t you?

Job isn’t all doom and gloom though. Today I read this:

“‘Who kept the sea inside its boundaries…For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.’ I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!'” {Job 38: 8, 10-11}

These verses fall under the heading of “The Lord Challenges Job” and y’all challenge He did. It starts off, “Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind.” Whirlwind – is that like God using His outside voice? 

Let’s face it, Job’s life was a whirlwind. My hip and back have been aching lately and every time I want to complain I think, I could have boils that I was scraping with pottery pieces.

Our lives get caught up in whirlwinds sometimes. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Sink holes. Stuff just starts happening. I mean we are just living the life, our kids are celebrating, our flocks are a’grazin and bam. 

That’s why these verses ministered to me so much this morning. Our God does have final say. He can take every situation in our lives and say this far and no more.

The problem is that we don’t know where the line falls. Where the gate to our despair stands. 

And my friends, I wish I could answer that for you. Gosh, I can’t answer it for me.  That’s the thing about faith. We don’t see the gate but we know the Gatekeeper. I’m thinkin’ that at Jesus’ feet is where we need to find our way.

Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters – a pathway no one knew was there! You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherd. {Psalm 77:19-20 NLT}

Can we try not to despair? I say we and try because I’m right there with ya from time to time. There is a pathway through. One we don’t even know is there. The Great Shepherd is leading. 

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