Job had lost everything—his children, his wealth, his health. His heart was broken and his world shattered. Like many of us in suffering, Job wanted answers. He wanted to know why. He wanted to fix things and make things better. Instead of answers, God gave something better: he gave him perspective. He reminded Job that control never belonged to us in the first place.
God does this by asking the question in Job 38:31.
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?”
In this question, He doesn’t explain suffering. He doesn’t defend Himself. He just asks questions—questions that lift our eyes from the dirt of earth to the dance of the stars. “Job, can you hold the stars in place? Can you command the stars of Pleiades or Orion to walk across the sky?”
Of course not. Job couldn’t. And neither can we.
When life feels like it’s unraveling, like Job we grasp at the strings, trying to pull it all back together. But God’s question invites us to loosen our grip. We can’t bind the stars, and we can’t fix what only He can restore. We can’t fix everything, or sometimes anything. God can. We need only to lean on him and trust that he knows best.
So what are you holding onto today? A fear? A future? A broken piece of your heart?
Let it go. The One who guides the galaxies is more than able to guide you too.
I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.