January 11, 2021
Job 38:4-7
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
    or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy?
New International Version (NIV)
                Do you have to have the last word?  This problem plagued me when I was a child.  I thought when my parents and I disagreed that if I kept talking they would see things my way.  This did not usually end well for me.  To this day, I feel the need to be right and to explain that I am right.  In marriage and in life in general, this has not served me well.

                The middle part of Job is noisy and full of people who are convinced they are right.  Job’s first three friends tell him he has suffered because he has sinned.  Job knows better and stands his ground.  At some point, though, he decides to give God a piece of his mind (Job 31:35-37).  He wants to ask God some questions about suffering and get answers.

                After the fourth friend, Elihu, shows more wisdom than Job’s other friends, God himself finally speaks.  Instead of answering Job, he asks Job some pointed questions.  “Were you there when I laid out the earth’s foundation . . . while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”  You have a point of view.  I have a point of view.  Job had a point of view.  God has “view.”   Pastor Rick Ferguson who lost his life in the prime of his ministry used to say, “If we always knew what God knows we would always want what God wants.” 

                There are so many things we don’t understand in our world.  Suffering rises to the top of the list.  I don’t understand why my friends lost a grandbaby to Trisomy.  I grieve with the parents and grandparents in this devastating loss.  We place our trust in God, believing that the One who spoke the first Word, will have the last word in our lives. The word God speaks is love.  All that we know about God makes us trust him for the things we do not know.  When Christ-followers see God face to face, we will know wall that we need to know.  And it will be well with our souls.
Pray with me:         
Father, thank you for still talking to us.  We are grateful that you know everything about us and still love us.  We confess we don’t understand all of the pain in our world.  We wish we had specific answers to all of our questions.  Or at least we think so.  Father,   We are yours Lord.  Put us to what you will.  Thank you for the promise of perfect knowledge in your presence.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.    
Scripture memorization for this week:    
Hebrews 11:6
 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:8-10
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
New International Version (NIV)
Our 2021 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations Bible reading plan.  Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy here:
https://www.tallowood.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Read-Through-Bible-Download.pdf
We would love for you to join us as we read through the Bible in one year, while still having the flexibility of reading 5 days per week.  In addition, I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year.  We will also memorize 2 scriptures each week.  As we journal together this year,  Robby Gallaty’s H.E.A.R. plan is a good resource: Highlight a verse that stands out to you, Explain what it means, Apply that truth to your life and Respond to what you’ve read with an action or prayer.
Joyfully, 
Duane 
About Duane Archives
 Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
555 Tallowood Road
Houston, TX | 77024 US
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
Subscribe to our email list.