What Do I Lean On?

So many things to rest on.
So many things beneath.
Things that I can tuck away.
Things I can bequeath.

Things that make me who I am.
Define my every move.
Things that I can count on.
Things to help my life run smooth.

For as long as I remember,
They have been there by my side.
I never thought there would be a chance,
They would run away and hide.

They were always supposed to be there.
You know I don’t like change.
Without those things around me,
Things look awfully strange.

Friends will never leave me.
Parents…spouses, too.
Things will stay just as they are.
Just like they always do.

But friends may one day move away.
And parents, too, will die.
Children marry…establish homes.
Hold them back? Don’t even try!

Perhaps the things I leaned on.
Were never meant to stay.
They were mine for just a season.
For a certain length of days.

Blessings that now feel like sand,
Run through my fingertips.
Blessings to hold loosely,
Not in a vice-like grip.

When I look into my life.
I am well aware.
Through all the changes…that I fought.
YOU were always there.

The sand was always shifting.
That sand beneath my feet.
Sand’s not good to stand on.
Much too hot in scorching heat.

I soon would be found standing,
Upon the solid Rock.
On the door inside my heart,
I heard a loving knock.

Open, and I will dine with you.
In My Hands your dirty feet.
So many days within My Word,
We made the time to meet.

Those changes made you stronger
For you surely found
Nothing but salvation,
Kept you heaven bound.

You thought you needed all those things
That came and went with ease.
You kicked against your hand-made goads.
You only needed Me.

I was your steady constant.
I was your true North Star.
The same today and yesterday,
And forever…where you are.

But it felt like all of a sudden, Lord,
Everything was removed.
Foundations that I rested on,
Had all but come unglued.

Come to Me with empty hands.
You have nothing left to give.
You had what mattered all along.
Come to Me and live!

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In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man of all the people of the East. (Job 1:1-3)

Job would offer sacrifices each morning for the sins his sons and daughters might commit.

Satan, the accuser, came before God and said that Job only feared God because God put a hedge of protection around Job.

But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face. (Job 1:11)

God knew that Job was blameless and upright.

Satan attacked.
Job lost his servants, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his camels, his sons, his daughters.

Satan thought for sure that Job would curse God to His face.
In fact, Job’s wife felt the same way.

His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:9,10)

By the world’s standards, Job had every right to curse God.
How could God allow such a thing to happen to upright and blameless Job?

If we were honest, we would have to admit that we have some of the same feelings.

How could You, God?
What were You thinking?

Job, like us, wanted answers.
Why?
I don’t understand.

God does not have to explain anything.
He never gave Job answers.
In fact, God asked Job questions.
God’s first question was, Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? (Job 38:4)

That question puts it all in perspective.
Our finite minds can never comprehend God’s ways.

We think we want answers, but could we handle them?
Are we ready for the vastness of God’s plan?

God never gave Job answers to his questions.
God gave Job Himself…the only answer Job ever needed.

Then Job answered the Lord: I am unworthy – how can I reply to You?
I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer – twice, but I will say no more…Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know…My ears have heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.
(Job 40:4,5 and Job 42:3)

Through all the losses and all the questions…
Through all the confusion and all the frustration…
Job had what he needed all along.

His Arbitrator. (Job 9:32-34)
His Advocate. (Job 16:19-21)
His Redeemer. (Job 19:25)

Job had God…because God had Job..all along.