When God Describes His Glory

Job 38-41

I'm in the process of memorizing Job 38-41. It has been quite an undertaking so far, given its size. However, it has been rewarding so far. You might wonder why anyone would take the time to memorize this passage. My first motivation is to plant a powerful reminder in my mind which goes something like this "God is God, and I am not." When things are going well for me one of my first impulses is to take credit for myself. I look to elevate myself above my view of God. This has proven a common problem throughout the bible and one that I do not want blocking my closeness with my Father God. At the same time, I find the book of Job to be one of the most insightful. It offers a series wire tapped conversations between God and Satan, all while the consequences of those conversations are playing out on earth. It is a window into a different dimension, a dimension that we are normally not privileged to see. Lastly, the end of this story bridges those dimensions, with God talking directly to Job and describing His greatness. How God chooses to describe is greatness is by expressing what He has made. As a Christian that is enamored with all natural things, this provides some level of affirmation for the importance that I place on naturalist activities and observations. God's greatness is made clear to all people through what has been made.

If God's greatness is evident through creation, why then is atheism some common in the ranks of scientific experts? I would suggest one primary cause, our first impulse is to take credit for ourselves. It is all in the eye of the beholder, and more precisely in the worldview of the beholder. In order to be a scientist today, you must operate in a realm that eliminates the potential to discover anything that might point to a creator at any point in the creation/natural process. Scientists produce information and information is power, influence, wealth, job security, etc. Add that to the predisposition to take credit for yourself and you have every opportunity to stumble. I have hard-core scientist friends as a scientist myself, and the implications of their believe systems on their lives is not something that holds appeal for me. I love them, but it is not the truth lived out that I have seen glimpses of in Christians that I've known that are really striving to shine Christ to this world. Anyway, I digress. It will take me a while to get through my memorization of Job 38-41 and during this time, I plan to blog about the verses I'm studying and memorizing. I hope it is of value to you and myself.

To GOD be all the glory...and not me.