Blessed Controller

"Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm.  He said: "Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?" Job 38:1, 35a

There were many memorable moments from Taylor Harsh's funeral eleven days ago, but the one that is still with me days later is unforgettable. Taylor, age 24, was tragically struck by lightening and died the next day. Pastor Billy Barnes who presided at Taylor's funeral recalled Taylor's Dad, Carter, coming out to the ICU waiting room, informing family and friends of Taylor's death, and then saying that he kept going back to the verse from Job that said "He has told every lightening bolt where to go." In other words, even in his grief and loss, Taylor's Dad realized that Taylor's "accidental" death was no accident to God. God is sovereign; He reigns and rules his creation. 

I vaguely remembered reading the verse somewhere, sometime in the past, but I couldn't remember the exact Bible reference.  When I got home, I typed in the keyword "lightning" in Biblegateway's search field and quickly found it in Job 38:34-35:

    Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?

    Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?

    Do they report to you, "Here we are?"

And in that moment God met me with the comfort of His Word. My heart was hurting, not just for the Harsh's loss, but also for Houston's. Hurricane Harvey left Houston with an unprecedented 51 inches of rain and massive flooding. Yet here in one verse of Scripture, God answers Job's questions regarding suffering, with His own question. And not just one question. Three questions in two verses. In fact, reading Job 38:1-42:6, God actually asks Job more than seventy questions! The questions were given not to answer the mystery of Job's suffering nor to vindicate God Himself. They were intended to help Job realize that God's ways are higher than man's ways and that He is worthy of complete trust even in the most desperate of circumstances.

Early on with our special needs parenting journey with James Bruce, I realized that God can handle our questions. He usually doesn't give us answers, but He can certainly handle our questions. Even Jesus when he was dying on the cross asked, "My God, me God, why have you forsaken me?" Pastor Barnes also addressed the "Why?" question at Taylor's funeral by simply saying, "We don't know why. But if you know the "Who," it makes the "What" and the "Why" less overwhelming.

When we don't know the "Why?" go back to what we do know. We know God is sovereign; God is wise; and that He loves us. Trust Him."

Elisabeth Elliot, author, missionary and wife who buried two of her husbands, was no stranger to grief and suffering. One of Elliot's favorite prayers was the Orthodox Morning Prayer which includes this petition: "Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all." Elliot writes, "Nothing that comes to me is devoid of divine purpose. In seeking to see the whole with God's eyes, we can find the peace which human events so often destroy. I rest, dear Lord, in the knowledge that You are the Blessed Controller of all things." (The Music of His Promises, p.134)

Wherever we are today, we can rest in the knowledge that God is sovereign. He reigns and rules. "Knowing the Who, makes the "What" and the "Why" less overwhelming."

Amen and Amen,

Donna