Listen!

The book of Job is a tremendous read.  Not only is it a story of a man who suffers more than any person I’ve ever known, but there are some incredible verses of God’s discourse with Job near the end of the book.  The book encourages the reader in the magnificent power and control of the Lord, and how we (even in the middle of great sorrow and pain) can find peace in this truth.

Job 37: At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place. Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.

Have you ever stopped in the middle of a thunderstorm, one with lightning darting across the sky, to listen to God roar in his majestic voice?  It might be that you stand amazed at the lightning zigzags, or sit in awe at the thunderous echo.  Or maybe storms only frighten you, because you’ve been caught in one before and devastation occurred.

We have flash floods in Central Texas, where I live, and we just had a few this past month, where homes were flooded, lives were lost, and people were afraid.  The lightning and thunder was not majestic, nor marvelous to behold to those who were affected.

These verses are a great personification of God to demonstrate his power.  However, even in the middle of real, tangible, storms in our lives God’s voice resounds above all of the fear, the panic, and the destruction.  He can put our lives back together like no other construction worker can.  He can put us at ease like no cloudless day can offer.  And he can create beauty from rubble like no sculptor can imagine.

Hear his voice today, even if your sky is stormy…or clear.  He does great things...for you.