MIDWEEK PRAYER

The snow this weekend reminded me of a Bible verse - one I had heard a long time ago.  It is in the Book of Job.  (That's not pronounced "job" but "Jobe")  Job was a good man who lived long before Jesus.  He's the one whom we remember when we say someone has the patience of Job.  He always tried to do the right thing but his life was one disaster after another.  All Job's friends assumed he was doing evil things because they assumed God rewarded good people and punished the bad on Earth.  Job didn't know what to think but he never wavered from doing what was right.  Job actually got mad at God for letting so much evil befall him.  God eventually showed Job a vision explaining His divine power and goodness.  He then understood the wisdom and mercy of God.  Here are a few lines from the 37th verse of the book, starting with line 5.

"At God's command amazing things happen, wonderful things that we can't understand.  He commands snow to fall on the earth and sends torrents of drenching rain.  He brings the work of men to a stop; he shows them what he can do.  The wild animals go to their dens, the storm winds come from the south and the biting cold from the north.  The breath of God freezes the waters, and turns them to solid ice.  Lightning flashes from the clouds, as they move at God's will.  They do all that God commands, everywhere throughout the earth; he may send it to punish men, or to show them his favor."