Job 34:13

13 Who hath given him a charge [paqad] over the earth ['erets]? or who hath disposed [suwm] the whole world [tebel]? KJV-Interlinear

13 'Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world? NASB

Anyone who has an authority over them, has an obligation to their superior. All of humanity has to report to someone - children to parents, wives to husbands, privates to officers, employees to employers, automobile drivers to the rules of the road, etc., etc., etc.

The concept of authority is as broad as you can imagine. Anyone who rejects or rebels against authority has a major problem with orientation to reality and life.

Authority is a good principle. All of life balances on the proper function of authority. Authority teaches you humility, responsibility, orientation to reality and so forth. The authority concept is never intended to define superiority or inferiority as seen through arrogance.

But, as with anything in life, any good thing can be abused or ignored, and that leads to disruption, instability, and ultimately suffering. That is always the result when good principles are rejected, abused or modified.

Elihu's point here is that God can do no wrong. God is incapable of doing wrong. God is beholding and obligated to no one.

God is the source and the origin of His own authority, and this comes to define His sovereign essence.

This principle also leads us to the concept of our security in Him.

Since God is sovereign, and immutable, then regardless of the state of this world, we need not lose hope when life falls apart for us.

Never give up. Never give up hope. Hope being that realm beyond which you can go no further. Hope does not eliminate responsibility, but serves to enhance it.

We will always face evil in its many forms, but we are to never give up.

God gives us all support, but He also obligates us to think and act responsibly in life. We will always be faced with challenges, and life will not go well for us on many occasions, but always remember - Jesus Christ controls history.

I mentioned the other day that this election season does not appear too promising as far as the quality of the candidates. But not to worry. The world may rise and fall like a roller coaster. The economy will have its bumps in the road. Most all politicians believe that they can do the things necessary to control life, but they cannot.

Governments do not control life, and certainly politicians cannot. Everything comes courtesy of Jesus Christ.

But too, Christ will allow many difficult times come to pass. We have already studied this in Revelation. As the Church Age nears its close, that close being the Rapture, the spiritual quality of the population will decline. With that decline trouble will rise at alarming rates.

We do not know the timing of the Rapture, and we cannot project its date simply because of the existence of world trouble. History has already recorded plagues, world wars, famines and such that have been extremely severe. We may go through many more worldwide difficulties before the Rapture. But, the point here is, Jesus Christ controls history and it is His plan, the plan of the Father, which will proceed and prevail, not mans.

Evil will rise up and celebrate what it believes to be its victory. So what. Evil, negative spiritual volition, disregard of God and doctrine, indifference, apathy, arrogance and more will never escape its ultimate face-to-face meeting with Jesus. Then the celebration of evil will cease.

Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ received His authority from no man, from no angel, from no created thing. He is able not to sin, and not able to sin. He is incapable of unfair treatment toward anyone.

In Christ, there is safety and security, and confidence.

No matter what your circumstances in life, you will never fall out of His controlling hands.

The world may toss you about humiliatingly, but that should be of no concern to you. Let evil have its day. It will be short lived anyway. Your destiny will extend into eternity, and your life now will be transformed into an adventure rather than a burden.

Now is the time to post a prayer.