“For His Eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees all His steps.” Job 34:21
There is one major rule that dominates business, commerce and recreation, and ultimately, the demand that fuels all three…location, location, location. In Maui if you wanted to dine near the sparkling blue waters of the South Pacific, you paid a premium. In downtown Puebla, if you want to have coffee at a nice Café that overlooks the beautiful Zocalo (town square), that was first laid out in 1532, it will cost a little more. And as Margie and I shop for hotels in Cozumel, if you desire to gaze out upon the turquoise waters of the Caribbean from your room, it will cost you a little more. The location of things is important. Even the location of your home will greatly determine its overall value. Is it in a small remote country town or does it sit on 5th avenue in New York? But when it comes to living your life in Christ, location is just as important. And the location I refer to concerns not your geographic location, but the current circumstances in your life. What obstacles, problems, and dilemmas face you as soon as you rise today? And as you are forced to deal with those issues, where are they located in your life? Are you living above your circumstances...or are you living below them?
Young Elihu continues his discourse in chapter 34, and as he does, he is a man on a mission. A mission to prove the righteousness of God, prove the unrighteousness of Job, and to prove that he alone has the wisdom to discern the two. The book of Job is littered with men that are so ready to claim the truths of God, yet the book is completely void of any of them actually conversing with God. You see, in the English language there is a big difference between a declarative sentence and an interrogative sentence. A declarative sentence makes a statement, it issues the belief or view of the holder. An interrogative sentence asks a question, it is the issuer seeking to garner additional information to add to his quiver so that he may better understand the situation or topic that lies before him. The book of Job finds four men stating their beliefs on God and how He operates without ever bothering to ask God Himself. A lopsided formula that parallels a life trying to reason with the wind on which way it will blow tomorrow.
As you attempt to define the purpose of God in your life, it will drive you to inaccurate conclusions. The mind of man was never meant to rival that of its Creator. Attempting to define God can and will lead directly to one’s circumstances overwhelming them as they attempt to delineate why they are happening. If this formula dominates a life, their circumstances will follow suit, ruling that life. You see, your circumstances can move from ones that God has orchestrated for you growth, into ones that rise above you, dominating your life and as a result, stealing your belief that God is ultimately in control. Today where are you circumstances located? Are they firmly under your feet as you see them there as a reason from God? Or are they looming far above you, pressing down, and weighing on your shoulders like a heavy yoke? God sees all, knows all, and has placed everything in your life today as a method to grow you, not harm you. But there is a big difference between knowing this and living this. You can admit this truth yet still be living under the weight of your circumstances, living in the belief that God is somehow punishing you for a wrong that has burrowed deep into your psyche. Or you can, in great faith, see your circumstances as a stepping stool, placed beneath your feet by God not to hinder you, but to allow you to step up and become ever closer to the Savior in which you have placed your faith. Today, don’t live under your circumstances, but above, as you use them as steps of sanctification to become the servant Christ desires you to be.
“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:1-2
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