"Faint Not; Man Up"

"Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said, Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it." (Job 40:1 & 2) We have covered this section of scripture before, but now I wanted to look at it from a little different angle. Please believe me when I say 'I am not picking on Job', I really just want to use what he went through to illustrate a point; it just so happens that Job is the best illustration, because he did nothing wrong to deserve what he suffered through, and yet there was wrong brought out of him. Again, if you remember the word for 'Instruct' used here in this opening verse is 'Yissor', and this word only occurs once, right here. It means a reprover, a blamer, one who rebukes; in this text, God is asking Job to take a moment and consider the big picture; to basically step back from not only his suffering, but also from his questions; and to consider the magnitude of God. This is not a rebuke by God of Job, but rather He is trying to get Job in the right perspective; to get him to a place where he can actually see how Big and Powerful the Almighty really is. What a place to be! Nothing can compare to the vastness of God; and when we are focused on this, everything else fades away. In knowing this, and the fact that we are a part of His overall plan, we can then see ourselves in a different light also; Why? Because this bigger picture is eternal and is bigger than anything of this world; and there we are also, within His eternity. Now remember Job's response to God's instruction: "Then Job answered the Lord, and said, Behold I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further." This word 'Vile' which Job uses, is 'to be small', which means that compared to the vastness of God, how can we compare; or better yet, how can our small suffering compare to His great glory. And yet, when we are going through something, even something that may compare to what Job went through, we must remember that this is just a piece of dust in the universe of God; really, how can it compare? And yet, there we are also, within that universe of God, as saints; chosen vessels that have a place with Him for all eternity. To what should we put our glory in; this or that? "Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up thy loins now like a man: I demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Wilt thou also disannul my judgement? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty." (Job 40:6-10)