GodSprings - March 04, 2016

What’s My Choice in the Valley?

“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 (NIV)

One day a preacher, who had lost his entire family in a fire, was walking through his city, discouraged, depressed and defeated. He was trying to understand God's purpose in allowing him to suffer so great a loss. As he walked, he passed a construction site where a great cathedral was being built. He watched as a stone cutter chiseled a small triangle out of stone. Curios, the preacher asked him what he was doing. The stone cutter stopped his work and pointed to a spot near the top of the towering structure and said, "Sir, do you see that tiny opening at the top of the cathedral?" "Yes", replied the preacher. "Well", said the stone cutter, "I am cutting out this piece down here so that it will fit in up there." In an instant, the preacher realized that this was what God was doing in his own life. He received peace and was able to return to his ministry with a renewed trust in and zeal for the Lord.

Life is full of some wonderful moments: falling in love, laughing until your sides hurt, witnessing the birth of a child, spending time with close friends, or watching the sunset, just to name a few. But life has tragedies as well, like the death of a child, the loss of house and home, and economic failure, again, just to name a few. In life’s most difficult moments, a person’s character is most apparent. When tragedy hits, the choice is ours to either respond in faith and worship God through the pain, or dismiss and denounce God because of the pain.

Job suffered. He lost family and friends, and he lost health and wealth. But he never lost his faith. Job made the choice, in his hour of greatest pain, to say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21). Satan thought for sure that Job could be turned against God and that he would break down under the weight of tragedy and throw away his faith in God. Satan thought no one could possibly choose to worship God after experiencing such terrible tragedy. But through everything, Job refused to blame God. He would not complain, and he would not condemn God’s sovereignty.

True worship, however, originates in the simple fact that God is worthy of worship, regardless of our circumstances. Accepting the good things that God gives us is easy. The challenge is to readily receive what tragedy takes away. The challenge is choosing blessing and not bitterness, adoration instead of anger, and worship without whining.

In the blackest night, God is working out His plan for our life. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it this way, "When it is dark enough, men can see the stars." If it takes our walking through a deep, dark valley for us to grow in the Lord, then in the long run it will be worth all the pain and suffering we are called upon to endure.