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Who could imagine a day worse than the one Job experienced? All of his wealth, in his livestock, stolen or destroyed. His trustworthy servants mercilessly slaughtered by the sword. His precious children–every single one of them–dead. For no apparent reason, the Sabeans and Chaldeans had attacked. Unexplainably, lightning and destructive wind struck out of nowhere, targeting all that was valuable to him. But why? Was it possible that these unforseen disasters had come from the hand of God? Surely not. How could this unthinkable tragedy have been God's intention for His faithful servant Job?
Blindsided and devastated. Job chose worship.
“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.’ In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Job 1:20-22
No other Scripture challenges me more when I think about what it means to truly worship. In his deep grief, Job refused to harden his heart toward God. Stripped of all the rich blessings he'd received, he understood that God didn't actually owe him anything. What God gave and what He took away was God's prerogative.
Admirably, Job could both praise God for His gifts of abundance and continue to praise Him when he had nothing left (except a bitter wife who urged him to curse God and die).
Am I able to worship in the worst like this? Will I continue to praise God, like Job did, when my life makes no sense? When it seems as if God must have turned against me?
As I've stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for the past two weeks with my teenage son who is receiving radiation treatments for brain cancer, I've had the opportunity to interact with parents blindsided by tragedy. I've been walking on sacred ground, in that thin space between life and death.
And I've seen that worship can happen here, too. In the worst circumstances we can imagine.
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord never cease to be praised.
What has worship in the worst looked like for you?
I cried through the worship songs we listened to as a family, gathered in the living room of our Lanzhou apartment. Unable to sing, but ministered to by the music and the words, I felt raw and split open. Our not-yet-adopted 7-year-old son was in the military hospital down the street, recovering from a 6-day coma, and we had no idea whether he would regain all of the functions he had lost. Filled with tears and overwhelming grief, I found that there could also be worship in the midst of what felt like the worst. God graciously met me and held me there.