Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Can You Worship with your Pain?

Now there was a day when his [Job's] sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”


Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”


In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.


Job isn't made up. Job really did this.

After hearing that a combination of natural disasters, terrorism, and war took everything he had AND his progeny, he blessed God.

Seriously.

This isn't a flippant passage of scripture.

This isn't the the kind of thing you get in southern gospel songs.

This is real.

This is a level of devastation in a life to a greater degree than, likely, anyone I've ever heard of has experienced, ever -- much less in a period of 5 minutes.

What did he do? He worshiped.

What do I do?

What do you do?

No comments: