Quote for the Day

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?”

Today's Prayer

This week pray that those traveling will see the power of God in the universe He has created. Ask God to show His power and His majesty to those traveling and that they not be consumed by the activities of the day. Pray for those at home that God will show them that He, and not the circumstances of the day, controls their lives.

Job 38:1-38

Job 38:1-38 (NIV)1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:2 “Who is this that darkens my counselwith words without knowledge?3 Brace yourself like a man;I will question you,and you shall answer me.4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?Tell me, if you understand.5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!Who stretched a measuring line across it?6 On what were its footings set,or who laid its cornerstone-7 while the morning stars sang togetherand all the angels shouted for joy?8 “Who shut up the sea behind doorswhen it burst forth from the womb,9 when I made the clouds its garmentand wrapped it in thick darkness,10 when I fixed limits for itand set its doors and bars in place,11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;here is where your proud waves halt’?12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,or shown the dawn its place,13 that it might take the earth by the edgesand shake the wicked out of it?14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;its features stand out like those of a garment.15 The wicked are denied their light,and their upraised arm is broken.16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the seaor walked in the recesses of the deep?17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?Tell me, if you know all this.19 “What is the way to the abode of light?And where does darkness reside?20 Can you take them to their places?Do you know the paths to their dwellings?21 Surely you know, for you were already born!You have lived so many years!22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snowor seen the storehouses of the hail,23 which I reserve for times of trouble,for days of war and battle?24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,and a path for the thunderstorm,26 to water a land where no man lives,a desert with no one in it,27 to satisfy a desolate wastelandand make it sprout with grass?28 Does the rain have a father?Who fathers the drops of dew?29 From whose womb comes the ice?Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens30 when the waters become hard as stone,when the surface of the deep is frozen?31 “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?Can you loose the cords of Orion?32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasonsor lead out the Bear with its cubs?33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?34 “Can you raise your voice to the cloudsand cover yourself with a flood of water?35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?36 Who endowed the heart with wisdomor gave understanding to the mind?37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens38 when the dust becomes hardand the clods of earth stick together?

Message

Big Bang, Creation, Evolution……How did it all begin? God is very clear, “…I laid the earth’s foundation.” As we begin to understand the character of God, we understand that He is THE CREATOR, without beginning and without end. When we look across this vast universe we struggle to understand how it works, yet God simply states that He has laid the foundation and controls every aspect of it. We marvel at how it all functions. Scientists and explorers continue to try to comprehend the ways and complexities of how this universe works. God continues to say, “Look to me. I will keep it in operating order.” As we review this passage it may be that we can say we have “learned” how many things work, how the moon controls the tide, or how the snow and rain are created by changes in temperature. Yet even as we begin to scientifically understand the complex universe, the fact remains we cannot control it; God alone is in that position. My favorite is verse 32, “Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons…?” Think through the enormity of that question: the rotating earth, the sun and its placement, the stars and how they have been placed and ordered in the sky. How infinite and powerful is our all consuming God!The first part of the answer God gives Job is fundamentally this: “I alone have created and I alone control the universe you are a part of.” It does not seem like an exciting answer when you are suffering both physically and emotionally, yet it is the foundation that has to be laid to fully understand the complete answer.