Be assured that my words are not false; one who has perfect knowledge is with you. – Job 36:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 21, 2015): Job 36

During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was asked a question. “Do you believe that God is on your side?” It isn’t a very unusual question. The combatants in every war usually believe that they are fighting on the side of God. In ancient times, as nations would go to war, both sides fought for their own national god’s. And the nation that won, won because their god was stronger than the god of the other nation. And the pantheons of the gods grew as people added the gods of other nations, especially if they were gods that were on the winning side of the war, to their own list of god. So the question of whether or not God is on your side, or maybe better, which god is on your side, is a very basic question.

But Lincoln’s answer was not basic. Lincoln answered the question this way – “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side,” said the President, “my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” There is a big difference between asking whether God is on my side, or whether I am endeavoring to be on God’s side. In one, I want God to come in and bless my plans and my endeavors. I am the one in control and all I want is for God to bless my desires. In the other, I want to go and strive to be a part of where God is already moving.

I love the way James Moffat translated these words of Elihu. Moffat in his translation interprets these words of Elihu like this: “Here stands a man whose insight is unerring.” It is almost like Elihu is claiming to be God. At the very least he is claiming that he stands as a prophet of God - that God has placed his stamp of approval on Elihu’s words. The problem is that Elihu has made absolutely no effort to find out where it is that God is moving. He has assumed that God was on his side, rather than being concerned about being on God’s side – and finding out what it is that God is doing, especially in the life of Job.

There is absolutely no ambiguity about where I want to be. I don’t want God to come and bless what it is that I am doing. I don’t want to stand in the place of Elihu and assume that what I am saying is the voice of God. But I desperately want to be where God is moving. Abraham Lincoln worked where God was working and the result was that the world was changed. This is my hope and my prayer, this is what I want to spend my life doing – all for a chance to be a part of what God is doing on the Earth – and change the world.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 37