Who's life am I living?
That's the million dollar question. Sometimes I think I'm living life on my own terms. Making my own decisions regarding who my friends are and what I do with my time. Other times of course I feel like I'm five once again and am living under my parents roof so of course I'm am abiding by their rules and consequently living on their terms.
However, they aren't going to be the final judge of my life. And nor will any of the other people whose opinions I hold so dear. The final judge will be someone so big and so great that he hurls arrows of light out of the sky to light up even the darkest of nights. This Judge sees and knows everything. So why do I feel that I need to make a case for him when I ask him things?
(Job 34:31-28)
As Eliha reminds us, God doesn't need our evidence. He sees it all in real time, so, while our prayers at night do connect us, everything that we say he already knows. That being said, us trying to plead and prove a case is irrelevant because it is already decided.
So what's the purpose of our prayer at night? Wisdom. We can say, "Help me to understand." or Help me to walk in your way." That is his wisdom, his ultimate gift to us.
We live this life on his terms, he already has it planned, so why bother trying to alter anything.
So what about Job's troubling time?
Job was in the earth, undergoing intense pressure and heat in order to be ready for mining season.
Is that cliche? Absolutely. But it is incredibly accurate. He had to learn to live in the trials in order to live in extravagance. But God did not desert him. In fact, he was there every step of the way and even knew what was coming next, like an old film where everything seems to move in slow motion because you know that something bad is coming up. You yell at the screen but they can't hear because otherwise the movie wouldn't even exist.
So stop offering yourself up for others to judge, therefore allowing yourself to live on their terms and burrow deeper so that the process can work. Go become that diamond and shine the extravagant light that has poured over you.
