Job 38:41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
Who Has? Who Can? Who Provides?
Sometimes the strangest things happen for which I have no explanation! For instance, not along ago I returned from Michigan, and when I drove my car that had stayed at home that week, I noticed it smelled like a wet towel. The next day it smelled like a wet dog, and the next day I noticed almost an inch of water in the foot well of the rear passenger seat. Now I think it may have come in through a cracked window since it rained a lot when we were gone, but there are all kinds of things like that, everyday occurrences that I can’t explain.
When you are a kid, you create theories for things you don’t understand. I used to wonder if what was on television stopped the moment I turned the television off. Then you get older and think, “Now I own facts and not theories.” But that is not entirely true. There are many things we just don’t know.
Job has spent an entire book wondering about and speaking of God, and his friends have spent much time doing the same thing, wondering about and speaking of Job. Then, all of a sudden God is present in a manifest way. Job 38:1-3 says, “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man: for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.”
God basically says, “Job, lace up your tennis shoes because we are going at it. I have some questions for you.” Now God is going to vindicate and comfort Job, but first He has to set Job in the right frame of mind. We need to know what it is that we don’t know and acknowledge that before we can turn to God.
God says, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.” He goes on to talk about the oceans, stars, and all kinds of other things of which Job had no comprehension. We don’t even know what conception Job had of either heaven or the devil. He did not have the Law of Moses or the Ten Commandments. In many ways what Job knew was less than what you would have known from Sunday School in first grade.
God basically brought Job to the end of himself. Job began to realize how little he knew, and he began to realize that the answer to his questions was not to know more facts but to know God.
Three questions summarize this chapter. Who has? Who can? Who provides?
Verse 36 says, “Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?” I haven’t; God has. Verse 37 says, “Who can number the clouds in wisdom?” I can’t, but He can. Verse 41 says, “Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.” Who provides? God does.
Who has? I haven’t. Who can? I can’t. Who provides? God does. God even provides for ravens. If God can provide for ravens, God can provide for you. You may not have all the answers, and you don’t need to. That’s where faith comes in. God is not only a God of knowledge and power, but a God of provision. Trust Him today despite all that you know and all that you do not know.