April 21, 2005

Job 1:20-21 (after learning of the deaths of his children) At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Corrie Ten Boom thanked God for the fleas. Job praised God at the loss of everything he had..And yet most of the time when I enter the presence of God it's with a blanket of requests rather than praise. I was thinking about this in my prayer time this morning. We are to enter His presence with thanksgiving. Not only that, but we are to be thankful in all circumstances. And as I was praying I tried thanking God for the difficulty in my life. But as I did this I would say, "Thank you for this struggle because..." Like I have to explain God to myself. I would fill in the blank with whatever I think God wants me to learn from this. But the point is that I don't really know the reason for my trials nor do I need a reason. Corrie thanked God because she knew it was commanded of her. Job praised God because of his awesome power. Job understood the fear of the Lord. He respected his ultimate sovereignty. And upon learning of all the catastrophe in his life, he worshipped.

God demands that we enter his presence in worship, I think, so that we will recognize him for who he is, understanding that if all is lost, His grace is sufficient. Not to say that Job didn't suffer or grieve, but He still praised God simply because he was in control of it all. He really had no choice not to... We always want for God to show his awesome power, but none of us really think of his power in this way. And yet... Job still worshipped Him.

In Job's words, "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?"

It's easy to say and eventually even grasp mentally, but not so easy to internalize. I think I probably err more on the side of Job's wife. I have a hard time really seeing her as an intensely evil woman, but a deeply grieving woman, yes. Her heart was broken and she spoke out of her pain when she told Job to "curse God and die". I identify with her. And I like this grieving woman, could learn a lot from Job.