Remember when you were "hot stuff." Everyone in high school or college looked to you for all the answers. You were the "know it all" of everything. People seemed to just naturally feed on your statements and repeat them.
And then IT happened!
One day, someone not only dared to question you, they actually factually embarassed you – in front of everybody. You were "dead meat" on the highway of what used to be your life. All the facade you had built came tumbling down around you. You had been put in your place. You really wanted to crawl under a bench or rock and get lost.
That's what it was like for Job when God got started in chapter 38.
Right out of the chute, God says "Since you understand and know everything there is about who set the measurements of the earth and how they did it, tell us!"
BAM!
That hurt! Job and his wise friends were now really up against it. God actually started out by saying "You are a man, so put up your best stuff like a man, not like a little kid. I'm going to ask you some questions, and since you are so smart, you instruct Me!"
Remember when you were a kid and your mom or dad put you in the corner over something you had done. If they did not use this tactic, then you missed a very important lesson in life. I, me, you are not the most important people in the world. We are not the smartest, baddest things that roamed about our home, neighborhood or school.
We may have thought (actually, some of us probably think we are) we were the greatest thing since sliced bread, or the iPod. How sad to see our vision of ourselves come to a screeching halt.
Take some time and read chapter 38. It is amazing how God uses the natural things like clouds, seas, hail, light and dark to make His point. We cannot measure or control them. We cannot define or declare where they come from or when they will arrive. We are powerless.
The power is His!
I love God's show stopper in verse 34 – "Can you yell at the clouds and make them drop a lot of water on you?"
God is not done. It's like "Now that I have your attention, there are some other things you need to remember or understand."