I love the end of the book of Job.  I love it that after 30-something chapters of Job and his friends lamenting over his condition and the ills that have befallen him, God speaks.

And He speaks BIG.  Out of a whirlwind.

And I picture Job sitting down rather sheepishly as God points His finger right in his face and says in a very God-like booming voice, “Where were YOU when I laid the foundation of the earth?”  This declaration of His omnipotence goes on without taking a breath for quite some time.  One of God’s last questions for Job is, “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?”  I’m assuming this question is rhetorical.

Job’s response?  Classic. “I lay my hand over my mouth”.  Can’t you just see it?  And can’t you just imagine yourself needing to do the same thing after complaining to God about some seeming injustice in your life?

Now, I’m not covered with sores, I haven’t lost my donkeys, camels and oxen, and my family has not been crushed by a falling house.  Not even close.  But I have been known to question things in my life.  And in questioning my life, in a round-about way,  I’m questioning God.  And sometimes after I’ve vented, God needs to remind me who He is – and who I am not.  And I need to clamp my hand over my mouth.  When I do dare to speak again, I need to say the same thing that Job did.

“I have uttered what I do not understand”. 

May I learn to clamp my hand over my mouth BEFORE I utter things I do not understand and simply learn to trust the One who laid the foundation of the earth.