“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” - Job 38:4
God asked Job this after Job had lost everything. His family, wealth, health…all of it gone in a short time. Trials are far from fun and I never wish for them to come into my life. But James says, “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” (James 1:2) Huh? Why?
Verses three and four go on to explain, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.” (James 1:3–4). I have walked through seasons of trials. Right before my senior year of college I was in a car accident. I was thrown from the vehicle and life-flighted to a nearby hospital. I suffered many injuries but my friend died in that accident. Why did he have to die?
…Where was I when God laid the foundations of the earth?
My husband and I have walked through two miscarriages and we still have hard days, but we know God can take better care of those babies than we can. But why didn’t we get to hold them?
…Where were my husband and I when God laid the foundations of the earth.
I have seen God work in miraculous ways
through those trials, and others I have walked through. I have also grieved deeply and felt God’s overwhelming comfort. I have more faith in God now than I did back then because in those moments I had nothing to hold onto except God and He proved to me He can be trusted.
Trials in fact do produce steadfastness in our faith, and we have to also remember we don’t have the whole picture. We don’t always get answers to our questions, but we know who laid the foundations of the earth. God. He also formed the sun and it rises and sets day after day. We can trust God even more than we trust the sun will come up tomorrow.
If you are walking through a trial right now I am praying for you. I am asking God to make His presence known in the darkness you are feeling. Keep putting one foot in front of the other because it puts you one step closer to Him.
