Stand Still and Consider the Wondrous Works of God

by Pastor Chad Lovejoy

I really would like to break down the entire chapter of Job 37. If you would at the very least please Read Job 37: 2-14. That being said if I had to pick a key verse for this particular moment it would be:

The Wondrous Works of God

Job 37:14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

I go in and open the refrigerator and the jelly falls on the floor. Apparently one of my kids put the jelly in the refrigerator door on top of a bunch of other things that was in there so whenever I open the door the jelly just slung out.

I got aggravated and if they were here I certainly would have let them have it and make them clean up the mess. Of all the places in the refrigerator why did you have to put it to where it was going to sling out and onto the floor whenever the next person opened the door? 

So I go and grab the washcloth and cleaning solution and I’m down there cleaning it up with the refrigerator door still open and then I looked into the refrigerator and noticed all the different things that were in there. It was interesting what I saw…

I have looked into the refrigerator thousands of times in my life but This time it was different. I noticed a lot of things in the refrigerator. Bacon, sausage, bologna, milk, chocolate milk, eggs, butter, ketchup, ranch dressing, you know all of that stuff and of course cheese. When I say cheese I mean we have shredded hot pepper cheese, shredded mozzarella, shredded pepper jack cheese, shredded colby jack cheese, sliced American cheese, cream cheese and even two different types of cheese sauces in the refrigerator! Boy do we love some cheese in this house! Here’s something else I saw; I looked in the refrigerator and realized that it was not empty. And I thought to myself, “You know what? Our refrigerator is never empty.” There are people on this very street that I live on that cannot say the same thing. I had to pause and consider how fortunate my family and I are to not only have “Our Daily Bread” but so much more. I stopped for a second and I just had to pray and thank The Lord for His favor. Then I started to pray for people that I knew personally that were much less fortunate. 

Personal side note: If I’m going to be totally honest I am starting to feel guilty at this point. “Look at all of this food in our refrigerator,” I thought.  I felt guilty for not properly thanking The Lord for those things that he allowed me to have and then I felt guilty for not praying often enough for those that I knew were less fortunate. 

With my refrigerator door still open, I looked in there and I saw a bottle of Frank’s Hot sauce because I put that on everything. I saw a couple bottles of my sweet tea because I drink that stuff all day long. And then I saw ranch dressing, deli sliced pepperoni, Pillsbury canned crescent rolls, and canned soda. Here I am on the floor looking into my open refrigerator and The Lord impressed me to “Selah.” You may have noticed that word a few times in your Bible reading.  Selah is a word used over 70 times in the Bible—seventy-one times in the Psalms and three times in the Book of Habakkuk. “Selah” simply means- “to pause and consider…” 

I saw the hot sauce I saw the tea and I paused and considered…

I saw the mayonnaise and I paused and considered…

I saw the deli sliced pepperoni and I paused and considered…

I saw the chocolate milk and I paused and considered…

I saw the crescent rolls and I paused and considered…

I saw the canned soda and I paused and considered…

I considered that the Frank’s Hot sauce was in there because I like it but I realized the specific flavor of “Frank’s Original Buffalo” was in there because it is my favorite of all of the hot sauces. I considered the tea that was in my refrigerator and realized specifically that I have Pure Leaf’s Extra Sweet Tea because that too is my favorite of all of the teas. Not only did I have hot sauce and tea in my refrigerator, I had the exact hot sauce that I preferred and likewise the tea that I preferred. I became so blessed when I considered that, “each of those items were blessings to have that God gave me.” Each item, the hot sauce and the tea, was put in that refrigerator specifically and purposely for me. I don’t deserve to have any of it quite frankly. There are far less fortunate people out there that are far greater than I will ever become that do not have such luxury.  

When I paused and considered the mayo I realized that this family has become a Mayonnaise over Miracle Whip type family! Go ahead and hate us for it but we prefer mayonnaise over your sissy salad dressing!! 

When I paused and considered the deli sliced pepperoni I realized that it was in the refrigerator mostly because of my oldest daughter Brandy. She loves it. 

When I paused and considered the chocolate milk I realized that it was in the refrigerator mostly because of my son CJ. He’s a big kid and a football player so I want him to drink that milk for his bones and keep some weight on him at the same time. 

When I pause to consider the crescent rolls I realized how my daughter Shaelyn likes to roll them out in the pan for my wife to put into the oven.

When I pause and considered the canned soda in our refrigerator I realized we don’t really do bottled-pop and how My wife always says, ” drinking pop out of a bottle just isn’t the same as drinking it out of a can.” Call us crazy but to us, it just tastes better out of the can!

What began as a quest to find me a little something to eat became quite more tonight. In that refrigerator I saw marks of my family and who we are and how God has made us. It is amazing how He has uniquely shaped us into his image along with specific tastes, quirks and preferences. I am so unworthy to have the family that God has gifted to me. 

This led me to think about those who have outlived their loved ones or perhaps they had a houseful once but due to circumstances other than death, they were no longer together with their family. Their refrigerators have specific items too and in them you will find specific amounts of quantity as well but for very different reasons. If you have outlived the people that you love the most or if they have moved on from you then you likely won’t have much in your refrigerator. Likewise, those that have not been blessed like I have to be married or perhaps they are blessed to be married but God has not seen fit to bless them with children, their refrigerators look much different than ours too. Selah.

Every item that goes into our refrigerators are there specifically and on purpose. Nothing accidentally ends up in our refrigerators. Everything that God does is on purpose and has a specific design behind it. If I am brutally honest before the face of God I’ve gotta ask, “What in the world would my refrigerator look like if my life was different?” I never have been a drinker but only God knows what kind of drinks may have frequented my refrigerator if my life were not as it is. I am not too proud to admit that I am a weak vessel; nor am I so naive to believe that my refrigerator would be the only thing that would look different in my life if God had not blessed me the way that He has. Would I…. Even be alive? And if I were, would I have EVER come to know HIM as my Lord and Savior?

As you can see God can use grape jelly slinging out of your refrigerator door in a mighty way. Before the grapes in that jelly were even planted God specifically had a purpose for it. Specifically for me on purpose.  If I continued to write the depth of the thoughts that occurred or if I continued to share the words that I took to the Throne Room of God because of that jelly, this writing would go on and on. Even if I were to continue, quite honestly my writing and communication skills are too inept to give God’s ways any justice. 

2020 has been absolutely insane and it appears the rat race that the world continues to run will only continue to increase in pace. That’s pretty much what the Bible tells us though right? The issue is I have found myself trying to keep up with its rapid pace and in turn have lost touch spiritually and even out of touch if-you-will with God’s design and great majesty. I’m glad that He has adopted me and cares enough about me and loves me enough to stop me in my tracks. Tonight I found myself in the floor cleaning up sticky jelly with the refrigerator door wide open. 

Entertain me for a moment and Selah…

Pause and consider the imagery in the sentence above about the sticky jelly on the floor and the wide open door while I’m on the floor. The world is attractive and sticky even if it leads you on the floor yet we still chase it, entertain it and give it its place. On the other hand God Almighty always has His arms wide open with His light shining bright, not just in our face but in our hearts. He is calling us to get out of the sticky world and up off of the floor and to specifically press into Him on purpose! Let us not long for the pace and erraticism of 2020 and all that is attached to it. Selah…

“Lord make us aware if we have fallen and are attaching ourselves to the sticky things that do not glorify you. Lord give us the desire to stay away from those things that keep us from clinging and chasing and pursuing you. Forgive us of our sins. I am confident that you will embrace us into your arms based upon the virtue of your son Jesus Christ. It is due to Him that we have this forgiveness and access to you. It is because of Him that we can come to you as your child. Lord may we not come to you while holding on to the things of this world. Give us the desire to set aside every weight and all of our sin that so easily besets us before we dare ask you to hold us. It’s in Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.”

Pastor Chad Lovejoy

Victory Baptist Church

PO Box 7163

Charleston WV 25356