BUT HE KNOWS
Today's reading: Job 23-24

"I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find him. But he knows where I am going..." Job 23:8-10 NLT

Job cried out, but his cries echoed back against the walls of his heart.

Job reached out, but his hands grabbed hold of nothing solid.

Job ran to the place where he had last felt like he was in God's presence, but he didn't feel anything this time.

Job did everything he knew to do. He performed. He served. He sang. He studied. He refrained from whatever took up the majority of his time. He did the equations that had always worked before, A+B, had always equaled C, but no right answer.

Job finally rested on the very core of his belief system, that God knew where Job was whether or not Job knew himself.

I listened to an interview on the Christian radio station yesterday. I caught only this portion of it, did not get to hear who it was speaking or hear the beginning of their testimony, or the end. What I did hear the speaker say was this:

'When life seems so far out of your control, you have to know, you have to be shown by God, that the only thing you ever really control is what you believe in.'

Job, and you and I, can only control our faith in God. We cannot control external circumstances. We cannot control diseases or a lot of medical issues. We cannot control the actions or reactions of others, and sadly sometimes of our own. We cannot control wayward children or wandering spouses. We cannot control militant political groups or governments gone badly wrong. We cannot control the weather or the length of long, dark nights.

We can control our minds, our hearts, our souls--and what we, better yet, Who we believe in.

Job reminded me of that this morning with his words.