READ: Job 40
THINK: Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? —Job 40:2
During an afternoon baseball game when American League umpire Bill Guthrie was working behind home plate, the catcher for the visiting team repeatedly protested his calls.
According to a story in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Guthrie endured this for three innings. But in the fourth inning, when the catcher started to complain again, Guthrie stopped him. “Son,” he said gently, “you’ve been a big help to me calling balls and strikes, and I appreciate it. But I think I’ve got the hang of it now. So I’m going to ask you to go to the clubhouse and show them how to take a shower.”
Job also had been complaining about calls he didn’t think were fair. In his case, the umpire was God. After listening to Job’s objections, the Lord finally spoke out of a violent storm. Suddenly things came into perspective for Job. God was gentle, but He was also firm and direct. The Lord asked him the kind of questions that bring finite man back down to size. Job listened, gave up his complaining, and found peace in surrendering to God.
Father, we don’t make sense when we complain about Your fairness. Help us to be like Your Son Jesus, who trusted You without complaining, even to the point of dying on the cross. When you feel like complaining, think of all that Jesus endured.
– Mart De Haan in Our Daily Bread
PRAY: Thank God for who he is and what he has done. Confess the times when you’ve complained and you have gone where Job did – to the place of questioning his fairness or his wisdom – because you didn’t like the way things were going. Ask him to help you put your complete trust in him, no matter what the situation.
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