This picture is one of the most unusual I have ever seen. A cloud pillar with something at its top that looks like a circular rainbow. Above this the clouds dissipate and their bright blue hue emphasizes that “crown rainbow”. From the signage this location would appear to be oriental, perhaps Thailand or Vietnam, but who knows?
There is so much to be seen in this world, so much to know that it seems impossible to know everything. No, that is wrong. It is impossible for a human being to know everything. Thinking of this I am reminded by the Scriptures that there was once a man named Job who felt so secure in his knowledge of his own righteousness that he felt that he could even contend with God. God answers Job and asks him...
Job 38 ( World English Bible )
1 Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
6 Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’
12 “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
14 It is changed as clay under the seal, and stands forth as a garment.
15 From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all.
19 “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
20 that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22 Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
25 Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm;
26 To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man;
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?
30 The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are?’
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
38 when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
I don’t know the answers to Yahweh’s questions and am quite sure that you do not either. The point is that we do not know the answers simply because we are just human beings and are limited by our humanity.
God on the other hand, is limited by absolutely NOTHING! He and He alone is God, with insights, understanding and capabilities beyond our wildest dreams. Situations may happen in our lives that shake us to our very foundations, but if in humility we acknowledge HIM and submit to HIS will as best as we can discern it, then we will be blessed. Job did this a little later in the book and serves as an example to those who will faithfully follow the Almighty!
As you go through life, remember all the things that you truly do not understand. God has an answer for every one of them. As for me, I feel truly blessed to again see something like that “crown rainbow” and realize that no matter how old I am, I will never know the answers to everything I might see or experience. God does though and I will just have to remember to ask HIM when I get to heaven. And there will be a very long, long list! I can’t to find out the answers to all my questions- how about you?