Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. – Job 38:1

Today's Scripture Reading (August 4, 2021): Job 38

British author Vivien Greene argued that "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain." It is a truth that a good friend of mine had to try to teach his young son. The family had moved from an inland place where the sun shone, and rain seldom darkened the sky, at least, not during the long hot summer months, to a coastal city where rain was an ever-present reality. During the first few months of the family's existence in their new home, the young boy spent hours looking out the window, hoping and dreaming of the day when the rain might stop. Finally, mom and dad tried to teach their son a valuable lesson. If all he did was wait by the window for the sun to shine, he was going to have a sorrowful existence in his new home. What he needed was to learn to play, or dance, in the rain.

Elihu has been speaking about the storm as an example of God's power. He has told Job that,

He fills his hands with lightning
    and commands it to strike its mark.
His thunder announces the coming storm;
    even the cattle make known its approach.

"At this my heart pounds
    and leaps from its place.
Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
    to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
    and sends it to the ends of the earth.
After that comes the sound of his roar;
    he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
    he holds nothing back.
God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;
    he does great things beyond our understanding (Job 36:32-37:5).

As Elihu says, "Listen! Listen," we begin to understand that Elihu is not just talking about a theoretical storm, one that we can all remember at some point in the past. Elihu has been watching the storm clouds gather as he has been speaking to Job. He has seen the rain streak the darkened sky as the tempest has drawn closer. This is not a "someday" storm; it is one that Job and Elihu have been observing and watched as it moved their way, drawing closer and closer as the conversation drags on.

Maybe, at some point, someone might have suggested changing the venue of the discussion to take the conversation inside and out of the storm. But before Job and his accusers make their move out of the impending storm, Elihu uses the storm as an example of the power of God. Except that, this time, God is in the storm. And as the storm reaches the five men, God begins to speak. But he does not talk to Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, or Elihu. Instead, he directs his comments straight at Job, who is, incidentally, the only one who has addressed his remarks to God and cried out to him for assistance.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 39