UNQUENCHABLE?

I am including an excerpt from Matt Redman's THE UNQUENCHABLE WORSHIPPER for some insight on dealing with life and loss.....

"Who could blame him really? In a matter of days Job had lost his fortune. His children had been suddenly taken from him. The pain from the boils that covered his skin must have been unbearable. All of it; his health, wealth, and family was gone. Job was not dead, but that was just a minor technicality. And so Job´s outburst is understandable, for deep suffering isn´t only looking for the pain to end, but for an answer to the question: ´Why me?´

´If I have walked with falsehood . . . and my foot has hastened after deceit, let Him weigh me with accurate scales and let God know my integrity . . (Job 31 v 5-6) Oh, that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written . . . I would bind it to myself like a crown.´ (Job 31 v 35, 36b)

And how does God respond? He does not defend Himself. He does not explain Himself. God chooses to reveal Himself.

´Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it . . .(Job 38 v 12-13) Who has put wisdom in the innermost being or given understanding to the mind? Who can count the clouds by wisdom, or tip the water jars of the heavens?´ (Job 38 v 36-37)

When silence falls once again, Job finds that the answer to his suffering is not found by asking: ´why´ but by knowing: ´Who.´ It is not found in questioning God´s worth, but in seeing Him for who He is. God answers the problem of Job´s suffering with the grand and wonderful mystery of His power and presence. Job himself says as much:

´I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. (Job 42 v 2) I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You.´ (Job 42 v 5)

An unquenchable worshipper does not rely upon endurance, doctrine, or determination alone. An unquenchable worshipper returns again and again to the revelation of a God whose worth and whose love does not waver to spite our suffering. An unquenchable worshipper can sing then with Job perhaps one of the most profound lines in all of Scripture:

´The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.´ (Job 1 v 21)

THINGS TO ASK AND CONSIDER...
Chapter 1 of this book looked at the analogy of a fire needing heat, oxygen and fuel to keep going. We can lose the ´heat´ in our worship by allowing the cares and struggles of life to take our focus away from God. Essential ´oxygen´ can be cut off when we don´t allow the Holy Spirit to take the role of lead worshipper in every aspect of our lives; in church and outside of it. And finally, we can shut down our fire´s ´fuel´ supply by not recognizing the revelation of God´s power and glory all around us. How strongly is the fire of your worship burning right now? Could it be fading in any way because of a lack of heat, oxygen or fuel? What steps can you take today to stoke your worship´s fire?