The Lord Reorients Our Perspective
Beloved People of God,
I came across a Chinese proverb the other day: “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.” One hundred percent! I break out in a sweat just imagining being on the back of a tiger, literally holding on for dear life! This has to be where our idiom of catching a tiger by the tail comes from. It reminds me of a childhood friend who had a small mischievous monkey. It loved to pester our dog, poking and prodding it. It loved to agitate the larger beast. That is until one day it grabbed hold of the dog's hindquarters, right as it turned around and spotted the hand-sized monkey. To this day, I’ve never seen a monkey’s eye wider with terror as it held on, the dog spinning round and round in tighter circles, snapping its teeth at its backside passenger!
In the book of Job, we find a man beaten down by life, tormented by friends, and increasingly frustrated with God. In a fit of fury, he claimed righteousness and put God’s justice on trial. As much as Job said he wanted his day in court with God, it’s clear he didn’t expect it would actually happen. In a whirlwind, God showed up and Job was left on the back of the proverbial tiger with no way to get down!
In God’s second response (Job 40.15-41.34), He confronts Job, describing the greatest beasts of land and sea: the behemoth and leviathan. Listening to the Lord, Job realizes—wide eyed—he is surrounded by nature’s greatest symbols of indomitable strength and invincible power. God speaks of behemoth and leviathan to broaden Job’s limited, pain-shaped perspective. If Job cannot hope to take behemoth by the tail or ride the back of leviathan, how could he possibly think he could contend with God their creator?! If these beasts of land and sea cannot be tamed by humanity, what hope do we have of domesticating God?!
Friend, perhaps you have the tiger by the tail. Maybe you’ve been wrestling with God, and you don’t know how to stop. Today, listen to what He’s saying to you. Be willing, like Job, to have your perspective reoriented.
For His Name’s Sake,
Brett