The book of Job is one of my favorites and the reason why has nothing to do with the man and his plight, but the descriptions of nature and animals near the end.
In this part, God is reminding Job who He is. God goes into great detail concerning animals, nature, heaven, stars, and more. It's magnificent.
(If you've never read it, Job is fully restored by the end, God was just making it clear who He is vs. who man is)
If you love nature and are curious about the mysteries of the universe, you'll love reading this section over and over again. It's truly spectacular and there's so much to learn about God and how He does things. It feels like reading a secret scroll with so many mysteries shed light on.
"Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
And caused the dawn to know its place,"
Job 28:12
God commands each morning to dawn.
“Have you entered the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in search of the depths?"
vs. 16
“Where is the way to the dwelling of light?"
Light has a dwelling place.
“Have you entered the treasury of snow,
Or have you seen the treasury of hail"
There is a treasury of snow and hail somewhere.
"Has the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?"
I mean, it's just so beautiful.
He talks about star formations.
“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the belt of Orion?
Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?
Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?"
verses 31:32
God is asking Job if he can guide the stars and constellations. Most believe the Great Bear and its cubs are the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. Psalm 145 says God knows all of the stars by name.
The descriptions of the attributes God gave specific animals is why I'm writing about this section today.
"Who provides food for the raven,
When its young ones cry to God,
And wander about for lack of food?"
“Who set the wild donkey free?"
Then there are descriptions of the mothers He made some animals to be.
"The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?
For she leaves her eggs on the ground,
And warms them in the dust;
She forgets that a foot may crush them,
Or that a wild beast may break them.
She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers;
Her labor is in vain, without concern,
Because God deprived her of wisdom,
And did not endow her with understanding.
When she lifts herself on high,
She scorns the horse and its rider."
There is a set personality, a type of motherhood for every animal and we see it in nature.
Anyone who hikes, camps, or spends time in the great outdoors far beyond highways and buildings know that bears are not to be played with. Grizzly bears are the most deadly, polar bears are not a joke at all either. More people have survived black bear encounters, but even they have taken many lives.
Bears are the most dangerous when protecting their young.
If you've gotten close enough to a bear cub to see it, you're already in serious peril because mama bears don't ask questions. They don't ask what your business is in the area or to see your park ranger certification. They just kill you. They eliminate the threat immediately.
No one who has spent significant time around animals can deny they have parental instincts. Not all of them are pretty. Mother rabbits will eat their young when if they sense they are in a dangerous place to raised in. I learned that at the age of around six after handling freshly born baby rabbits we owned. It's not a mistake one makes twice.
Mother birds will kick a baby bird that shows signs of illness or serious weakness out of the nest to give its healthier siblings more food and therefore a greater survival advantage. Nature can be brutal.
If God gave a certain type of motherly behaviors to animals, surely He has given them to us? If He gave them instincts to live the way they are intended, the birds a set of instincts, bears another, surely He's equipped human mothers with some of what we need to know to raise our young as well?
This morning God was showing me how yes, we have ingrained motherly ways, but we can make mistakes. We can bypass our instincts when afraid. Or get them wrong altogether. We can take the wrong advice. We can let the wrong people get too close to our kids. But we have help in all of this and it comes straight from heaven.
Even if you've made a mistakes, God is the Master Restorer. He carries healing in His wings.
I've been a mom for 17 years and have written about motherhood for almost as long.
I know how alone many moms feel, even those surrounded by people. Motherhood is one of those things that as you walk, no one can really know what you're going through. Add any kind of loss or deficit and the solitude of it can steal your very breath.
I'm here to tell you God cares about mama bears, He cares about you and your young. And that when He's with you, you're never alone.
Even if there's no one in the room, no one to call, you're not alone.
Every day I'm grateful that Abba is beside me. I came out of a much harder time and look back on days where I didn't speak to another adult the whole day and know it was knowing God held and cared for me, cared of us, that carried me through.
I've been warned of things, encouraged, strengthened and calmed, at times and for reasons that were beyond the natural.
I've been given power to combat things around my children and witnessed healings of body, mind and soul in my children. Miraculous healings that when I see my children walking free...I marvel and thank God for. When you see your child saddled with something one day and freed the next...it will give you a gratitude for God that I think only a parent can really feel the depths of.
It makes me think of all of the parents who called for Jesus to heal their children. If you knew of a healer in the area, who among us with a sick child would not run with their child in their arms to get healing? How far would we not go?
There are people who think Jesus doesn't heal anymore but I'm telling you He does. He heals and walks beside those who know Him every single day.
God made and cares for the birds of the air and He made and cares for you. You're not alone in this.
He gave you, mother, knowledge and instincts specific for this calling. Most of us, in healthy capacity would fight like a mother bear for our children in a hot second. We create and tend to our nests. We gather and feed like mother birds do. And yet, He's given something special to us because we are created in His image. He gave us Himself, Yeshua, Jesus, and everything that comes with a relationship with Him.
I didn't know Jesus was the missing element in my life and even my mothering for a long time. But now I do and I never have to walk alone again.
So as your feet hit the ground to day and you start pouring milk, toasting waffles, thinking about how much screen time you're going to allow today and where are the socks are...know that when you know Him, you don't do it alone.
And not only will God see you through hard times, He'll bring you to better ones. I've lived it. Don't give up in a valley.
"And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:20
love, Bunmi
The promises of God begin and end with Yeshua, Jesus, because He is the reconciliation. If you've been walking through life on your own and want to walk with a Shepherd who will never let go of your hand, here's how to start.
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