There's a cave cricket somewhere down at my feet. *shudder*

In chapter one of Job, God asks Satan where he has come from.

Satan responds, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." In 1 Peter 5:8 we get a fuller understanding of what Satan's been doing. ". . . like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." With that understanding, let's start the conversation over:

The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"

Satan responded, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it, like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? ..."

This just BLOWS me away! God knew what Satan was up to! God knew why Satan roamed the earth! God KNEW Job would withstand Satan's attack. I wonder if in keeping Satan busy with Job, some poor soul who *wasn't* up to the task of withstanding Satan's attack was spared (for the time being).

I just don't believe there's ever been a time when God could have substituted my name for Job's. As I look back at the trials and periods of testing I've faced (which are minute, to begin with), and how I responded, I'm so ashamed.

God is in control. God is in control. God is in control.

I am not.

The thing is, I shouldn't even want to be in control! I can't see before, during and after! I can't know what's going on in the hearts and minds of those around me (and those not around me). I don't have all the information!! How can you be in control if you don't have all the information??? Only God has all the information! Only God. God.

So why do I sometimes try and be in control? Why do I pretend that I'm capable of handling any given situation? I know perfectly well that I am not equipped to be in control. I certainly know that I'm not sovereign. What is it in my stubborn self that requires that I make a fool out of myself (more often than I'd care to admit), by trying to be in control?!?

I want God to be able to say to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Denise? There is no one in the earth like her; she is blameless and upright, a woman who fears God and shuns evil."

Selah!

:)