Part 1
2020…We can all agree this will be the year we look back on with disdain.
“This is 20-20“ no thanks, Barbara Walters.
I’ll take “2019” for $1000, Alex.
I’m human, you’re human. We naturally want a world with circumstances we can control. But, with each little thing that gets pulled from my white-knuckled grip, I find myself yanking back like I’m trying to wrestle a rope from my dog’s teeth.
Think about it, in the last five months we have lost our independence, livelihoods, health, sanity, peace of mind, dreams, goals, and plans. We keep tugging back fighting with fear and anxiety that we may lose grip on all of it and we want everything back within our reach under our control.
A man named Job and his wife lost EVERYTHING dear to them. We’re talking COVID-level loss.
The first day Job lost: his donkeys and oxen, servants (except one servant who escaped), burned his flock of sheep and those servants tending the sheep (except for one who escaped), his camels and those servants (except one), and all of his children.
Another day: Job was infected with boils over his entire body – from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Yes I looked up the skin condition: boils – painful, puss- filled lumps.
Job lost his children, his livelihood, and his health.
Loss is loss. Grief is grief. No matter how big or how small, losing anything meaningful within our grasp can be gut-wrenching.
In most of the book of Job we hear his friends giving Job their perspective on the situation. Job’s friends claimed that they were sure it was because of something Job had done that had warranted this punishment. They spend an abundance of time preaching their truth to Job, but none of them were remotely close to the only truth that mattered, God’s.
“Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind.” Job 38:1 CSB
Whirlwind = 2020
Other versions use: storm, eye of a violent storm
God also comes in a whirlwind in Ezekiel 1:4, 1 Kings 19:11, Nahum 1:3
“His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.” Nahum 1:3
God proceeds to tell Job His Truths for three chapters, beginning with : “Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.” Job 38:4
Mic drop.
God could direct this question at any one of us.
God is in this 2020 whirlwind. He is ready to reveal His Truth, but will we open our ears to hear it? Will we open our eyes to see it? Will we close our mouths and still our minds long enough to receive God’s Truth or will we continue to see the world as others tell us to see it? Are we relying on our own perspectives or are we searching for God’s Truth in this 2020 whirlwind?
Search for God’s Truth and His perspective. Its the only one that truly matters and offers real peace in the midst of the whirlwind.
P.S This is part 1 of a series on this 2020 whirlwind. We will be looking at how to learn God’s Truth to gain his perspective in the whirlwind. Stay tuned…
Leah Lively 