Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine– Job 41:11
As God questions Job, we see even this righteous man coming quickly to the end of himself and to the realization of the sovereignty of his God.
Job had lost everything he owned and all his children; he was covered with putrid sores from the top of his head to the sole of his feet; for an extended period of time he felt utterly forsaken by God. Yet, when God does finally speak to him, there is not a hint of apology on God’s part.
Rather, as God pounds Job with one question after another, Job is made to realize this startling truth: although his present pains have not come upon him because of any particular sin on his part (as his friends were suggesting), he did deserve everything that was happening to him and more! It is Job, and not God, who repents in the end.
What brought Job to the recognition of his utter dependence upon the grace of God? It was the reminder that God is the sovereign creator of all things and that everything and everyone receives their strength and life from Him.
No one can demand anything from God, because no one has ever given anything to God that they have not first received from Him. God is indebted to no one, for anything. If we enjoy good health, or prosperity, it is all because God has graciously granted it to us. Everything under the whole heaven is His.
Have you surrendered yourself, like Job, to the sovereignty and mercy of God?