First Responders....Worship
by Randy Maxwell, Washington Conference Prayer Ministries coordinator, and Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
It is doubtful anyone has had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, quite like Job (apologies to Alexander).
In one day, Job lost his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, servants, and all his children. No one could have blamed Job had he cursed God and said, “I’m done with you!” But that’s not what he did. “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship,” (Job 1:20).
In the midst of unimaginable grief, Job’s first response to calamity was to 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,” (vs. 21).
We believe Job has something to teach us about first responses.
Some of the actions taken at Annual Council in Battle Creek, Michigan, have left many feeling like they’re living through a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day…again. Though not to be compared with Job, some are grieving and lashing out in ways that all but say to the church, “I’m done with you!”
But for a people whose very identity is defined by the three angels in Revelation 14, the first of which gives a global call to “Fear God and…Worship Him,” worship should be our habitual and first response in any circumstance.
|
