“Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?” Job 21:7
It was a sunny, mild day and the cow had vast green pasture to graze in. But being so familiar with the taste of his own grass, he soon found himself at the fence line, gazing across at a small patch of green grass just out of his reach. He forced his head through, making a way where there was none, until he could get just a small taste. But when he pulled his head back, a sharp sting registered. The barbed wire had taken hold and he found himself in quite the predicament. No longer able to reach the green grass he desired and no longer able to retreat back into his own pasture. It’s one of the most damaging acts in a life, spending too much time peering over the fence into the promises beyond. What’s over there? Is it better? Is there more over there than I have over here? A life spent peering over the fence is a life spent missing what lies at their feet.
Job chapter 21 is a chapter that finds him doing just that, pondering, and contemplating the other side of the fence. Job knows his own situation only too well, he has been lying on his deathbed for 20 chapters. He has lost his children, his wife and all of his wealth and possessions. And as a result, we see his eyes darting over the fence. We have already seen Job reach for reason even when it was clearly out of his grasp. And as Job reaches across the fence this time for an explanation of why God is allowing him to suffer so, we see him no longer reaching over the fence, but standing on the other side. Job compares his life to all others. He falls into the dark pit of comparison as he uses his life as the benchmark. Any life that has more health than himself, he questions. Any life that does not suffer as he does, he pines for. You see, as we walk the fence line of life peering over at the other side, it creates within us a judgmental mentality. Why do they have what they have and why do I not? And folks, walking the fence line of life is a dangerous place to take a stroll.
If you are questioning the other side of the fence, you’re not questioning your life, your questioning God. After all, if you are a Bible-believing, Jesus-following Christian then you should know who placed the fence exactly where it is and who created the pasture on both sides. It is not for man to question how God runs His universe; it is His. He made it and He runs it in miraculous ways that man can never hope to perceive. And as Job peers across the fence at wicked lives and demands the drop of the gabble against them, he is simply attempting to run the universe for God. Today, God’s plan is perfect for you. Everything is at this moment exactly as God intends for you. He has not accidentally omitted a bright red Ferrari from your life. He has not placed you in a house smaller than you deserve or given you a job making less money than you are worth. God has given you exactly what you need for what you need it for. I’ve heard it said that God knows how much it will take to ruin you and He gives you just a little less. A saying that must not only be believed but lived. Today, don’t waste a single second looking over the fence, it’s valuable time you can spend praising Almighty God for blessing you with just what you need in your own beautiful pasture.
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:11-12
Comments