Where Was I?

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements?

Surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

To what were its foundations fastened?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

when the morning stars sang together,

and all the son of God shouted for joy?"

Job 38:4-7, NKJV

 

It's the oldest book in the Bible.  Written down even before Moses penned the Pentateuch, perhaps even recorded by Moses from the tellings he heard from Job's kinsmen in the desert during those forty years of exile from Egypt, it tells of a cosmic struggle over the soul of one righteous man.  God testified of Job that he was upright and blameless in all of his ways, that he feared God and shunned evil  The devil wagered he could make Job turn away and blaspheme God, if only God would lower the hedge of protection He had raised around Job.  And God took the bet.

 

It wasn't really a gamble, not for the One who already knows all because He sees all.  From God's perspective it was already a done deal.  But the devil had to try, and Job had to be tested, in order to prove that what God knew was true.  For two chapters we witness the many trials and afflictions of Job.  Arab terrorists strike his possessions, driving off his flocks and herds, slaughtering his servants, stealing the caravans of riches as they approached his coffers.  Winds of destruction struck the house where his children were feasting, killing them all.  Stricken with disease, cursed by his wife, sitting naked on an ash heap scraping his festering sores, Job spends the next thirty-five chapters cussing and discussing his tribulation, defending himself against the accusations of his three closest friends, one young upstart, and finally God Himself.

 

As Job questions the day of his conception and birth, his numerous good deeds and many years of devoted service to The Most High, and the unjust nature of his latest calamities, God shows up in the midst of a whirlwind and begins to ask a few questions of His owns.

 

I laid the foundations of the earth, Job.  Where were you?

 

I determined the earth's measurements, Job.  Where were you?

 

I stretched out the lines of its dimensions, Job.  Where were you?

 

I laid its cornerstone and fastened its structure to the foundations I laid for it, Job.  Where were you?

 

And when I did all that, the morning stars burst into song.  Myriads upon myriads of angels, sons of God every one, lifted up a shout that greeted the creation of the universe.  With joy they exulted over the work of My hands, one anthem, one thunderous ovation of adulation and praise.

 

But where were you, O man?  Where were you when I did all that in my own Name, with my own power, for my own pleasure?  Where were you?

 

In the resounding silence, God then asked this question:  Then who do you think you are to question me?

 

I am one finite man, created one wintry night forty-five years ago, who came into this world naked and screaming and completely ignorant of the world and its wonderings.  I have since received a decent education.  I am well studied and thoughtful.  I believe I am not unintelligent.  But how could I possibly seek to challenge the infinite One who has been around forever and brought into being everything that is?  The same God who created the universe created me, knew me and called me by name, had all my days written in a book, and knew all of my words before I had ever spoken them.  How can I try to tell Him something He does not already know, or explain to Him something He does not already understand?

 

I can't.  Which is why He has left nothing up to my own tiny brain to figure out on my own.  He gave me His word to read, to learn from, and to understand.  He gave me His own testimony, His personal report of everything I need to know about life and godliness, from beginning to end as far as I am concerned, and the rest He reserved for Himself and asked me for a little faith in the One whose hands formed and fashioned me in the first place.

 

If you don't believe, I guess it's yours to question and try to find other answers.  As for me, I believe.