Crisis of Worship

“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.”
Job 1:21

There have been many times that I have walked through difficult situations with friends and family members. Certainly, I have experienced challenges in my own life. The phrase “crisis of faith” seems to be an appropriate tagline to those situations. After reading through the first few chapters of Job, I have a slightly different perspective. I think I will change the phrase just a bit. In light of Job, I see those times as a “crisis of worship”. It’s amazing to read about how Job responded to personal tragedy. Job’s response to catastrophic loss was worship. After losing family, servants and livestock, Job fell down and worshiped God. In chapter one, Satan had implied that Job’s worship was contingent on the “things” in life around him. Satan posed the question, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” What if I substitute my name for Job’s name?

Does Paul fear God for nothing? I challenge you to put your name in the question.

Is my worship of God contingent on anything? It’s not likely that any of us will face the level of crisis that Job faced. However, we are tempted to allow our worship of Almighty God to be contingent upon any number of things. It could be the way we feel, the type of day we are having, the way someone has treated us, whether or not we believe life is fair, an unanswered prayer, the right song or the right church atmosphere. I’m sure you could add to the list. Job’s response helps me reconsider the definition of true worship.