“3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Genesis 22:3-5 “18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship. Job 1:18-20 You are called to sacrifice your son, and you worship. You sons and daughters all die in a calamity, and you worship. You worship. What was in the mind of Abraham that he would worship God on the day his son was to die? The Bible tells us that Abraham, when called to sacrifice Isaac “reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death.” – Hebrews 11:19 Does this explain his worshipping? He still had to wake up that morning and grab the knife. He still had to walk with Isaac while, all the while, considering that today would be the day he would kill him and set his body on fire. He still had to answer Isaac’s question about why there was no lamb for the sacrifice. Yet, he worshipped. What was in the mind of Job that he would worship God after his children died? The Bible tells us that after the news he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.[c]The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” Does this explain his worshipping? I suppose we could try and fill in the gaps and try to derive from the text why these two men were worshipping God in the midst of these circumstances, but it would all be conjecture. Perhaps we could even pull some bible passages that address worshiping, but would they help us to know why these two men worshipped God? No. We would still be left guessing. Instead, I think it is worth more of our time to consider our own hearts.
- If your loved one died tomorrow, would you worship God?
- If you house was burned to the ground, would you worship God?
- If you lost your job , would you worship God?
- If you were diagnosed with stage four cancer, would you worship God?
- If you were falsely accused of a crime and then incarcerated, would you worship God?
- If you found out your spouse was cheating on you, wanted a divorce and to take the kids, would you worship God?
Hmmm…. What does it take to be able to worship God in the worst of circumstances? What must we believe about Him? Is it a matter of faith? It is a matter of trust? Is it just possessing good theology? I don’t want to just give pat answers, but I know that some things must be present in our heart if we will worship God in our darkest hour. May I suggest some?
- That we know that God is always worthy of praise, no matter what happens in our life.
- That we know that God is always worthy of praise, no matter what happens in our life (I thought that one was worth repeating).
- That we know without question that God loves us.
- That we know that God understands our pain and cares about what has happened to us.
- That we know that God will use our deep pain and heartache to draw us into a deeper relationship with Him.
- That we can trust God with our lives, and commit ourselves to Him, even in tragedy and loss.
- That our thoughts are not His thoughts and our ways are not His ways, and that He is sovereign and that even though we cannot fully understand Him, He is still good.
- That life contains pain, but that God is filled with grace and mercy.
I’m sure there are others that I could put on the list, but I hope you get the point. When tragedy comes, and it will, each one of us will eventually turn to thoughts of God. We may ask why He let the tragedy and loss come. We may cry out about how unjust things are. We may wonder if what we believe about God is really true. Those thoughts may come, but will they remain? Or will we come back to what we know to be true about God…what His Word says about Him….and worship. When tragedy and loss come, we will need an anchor for our soul, so that we do not drift off into despair. God is our anchor and He has revealed who He is to us, even in our pain. 13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. 16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” – Hebrews 6:13-20 Shall we worship? Yes, we shall. For Him, Rob