Where Were You When I Laid
The Earth's Foundation?
The ONE who asked, "Where Were You?" was Almighty God, who was laying it on the line for Job. He followed up with a few more pointed questions like, "Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or, who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?" The Lord God went on and on with these very significant soul staggering, tongue binding, no answer questions. In other words, God asked in no uncertain terms, "WHERE WERE YOU?"
The mighty people of the Bible were NOT limp-handed, weak-kneed, dainty-talkin', posy-pickin', effeminate walkin', "when I said change - I didn't mean tomorrow," scared of their shadow, people pleasin', scared of the dark, vacillating cowards!
Paul said, "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." Hey, people; have we hit the jackpot on "perils?" As the song says, "I ain't no ways tired; I don't believe; I don't believe He brought me this far to leave me!" WE can make it!
The men weren't the only "strong" ones in the Bible. There was Deborah, a prophetess and judge. Deborah called Barak unto her and reminded him that the Lord told him to go to Mount Tabor and take ten thousand men with him, but Barak said to her, "If thou wilt go with me then I will go, but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go." I guess maybe "all" of them weren't so bold and strong! Barak wouldn't go to meet the enemy without Deborah! But, Barak didn't get it "all" wrong; he knew the wisdom of listening to and staying close to One with "prophecy!"
Don't forget "strong" determined Abraham! The Bible says that he "rose up early" to take Isaac to be sacrificed. Would we have risen "early" to sacrifice our own child? Better yet, would we have agreed to it at all? When Isaac asked his Dad, "Father, where is the sacrifice?" Abraham answered prophetically, "God, himself, will provide the sacrifice!" As the Angel grabbed Abraham's knife-plunging arm, the ram bellowed from the thicket! A sacrifice is the eternal Godly appeasement, Jesus Christ our Lord, the ultimate sacrifice!
What about Moses? He was a little wary at first, saying he had to take Aaron with him to do the talking, but in the end, he became a giant of the faith, commanding the seas, standing on the mountain waiting for a visitation, and conquering the desert under a cloud by day and a fire by night!
O, then, there was the mighty duo of Elijah and Elisha, the double portion guys! Elisha followed Elijah everywhere, because he wanted a double portion of Elijah's power. Elijah told him, ok, if you see me go away, you'll have it, and when Elijah went up in a whirlwind, the annointed power-forging mantle came floating down like a directioned red leaf in Autumn breezes ... landing on that eager, ever committed, hungry Elisha! That "secluded" Holy anointing only lands on very very hungry, night-watching, lonely, beggarly people!
We would be remiss if we left out David and Goliath! That Philistine giant was over nine feet tall, and here was David, a young teenager. All he had was a shepherd's staff, a slingshot and a pouch full of stones. Where are the people today who will fight for unborn babies, marriage between a man and a woman, the rights to say "God" anywhere and everywhere we want to? They're out there; but we need many more of them ... people, whose faith never wavers!
The next time we "whine" and we all do it at one time or another, we need to remember the Bible gives us examples of people who "made it" and they went forth conquering, wrestling, fighting for the right, slinging nothing but a piece of leather, proclaiming victory and power, standing on a mountain to command the elements, and the mightiest ONE of all is coming back!
It would be wise if we rise up, mount up, gird up, stand up, power up, look up and spew faith's unconquerable, unstoppable, never-ending, never failing, ever winning, triumphant shout of glorious Victory! ... Lest we hear those memorable, human shaking, Job-subduing, words of the Lord God Almighty ... "Where Were You?"
(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.
PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)
