The Difficult Thanks

Perhaps the most moving moment of the Relevant conference I recently attended was on Friday night as Angie Smith asked all the women in the room who had lost a child to miscarriage, still birth, or early infant death to stand.   Silence except for the sliding of chairs against the carpet and women throughout the room stood, heads bowed, hearts heavy.  Not one table I saw was left untouched … few eyes were dry, no heart unmoved.

Looking around my church recently I was aware of how many of those present have faced profound loss due to the economy … many who have lost jobs, lost their homes.  Friends who have had to move in with family because they have no other choices.  Men who have taken jobs they hate simply to be able to provide, even meagerly, for their families.  Women who have gone back to work to make it possible for their families to barely survive.

We’ll be traveling this week with our senior adults … many are widows, finishing out their days on earth without the one to whom they pledged their lives.  Some who have been traveling with us for eight years will not be with us this year … their health rendering them unable to go.

Loss … we will all experience loss – in many forms and various intensities – throughout our lives. As we consider biblical thanksgiving, true gratitude, this month on Scripture Dig, it is imperative that we realize the necessity of thanksgiving in times of sorrow and loss.

And so, we look at Job.   He had it all … family, wealth, position, influence.  And in one afternoon, all was lost.  All that he had loved, all he had held dear … gone.  Left with a wife who was bitter and cynical and friends who were skeptical and harsh.

In those moments immediately following the devastating news of his profound loss, we see this:

Then Job rose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.

And he said, “Naked I cam from my mother’s womb and naked I shall return.  The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

~ Job 1:20-22, ESV

In these verses I find three keys to giving  the difficult thanks:

1. Don’t diminish the loss. (v. 20)  Job grieved!  He was visibly devastated … he acknowledged his hurt.  He didn’t try to pretend away the pain.  There is nothing spiritual about denying loss … in fact, doing so can result in a greater bitterness in our own hearts and create harm to our testimony of God’s faithfulness.
2. Do desire to worship. (v. 21)   Job recognized his need to connect with God!  Immediately after acknowledging his grief, he turned to the One who could comfort him.  And in his worship, he was clear in his awareness that God is in control of all things … and that He can be trusted.  “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
3. Don’t disregard faith. (v. 22)   Job chose to respond to his loss in faith … “Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”  Living out our faith can be difficult in the best of circumstances, but even more so when we are pressed on all sides and faced with grief, loss, sorrow, and pain.  But Job’s example is one of continuing to walk in obedience and trusting that the God who had provided all good gifts before would continue to provide for him even in the dark times.

Job’s story continues with his wife’s admonition to, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9) and his friend’s disparaging words about his need for confession … but at the the end of his story, even when he has questioned God and listened to his friends’ condemnation, though he had heard God’s thundering voice answering his own plea for understanding,  Job’s confession is one of humility:

Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted … I have uttered what I did not understand … I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”  {from Job 42:1-6, ESV, emphasis added}

How do we give the difficult thanks?  Recognize the goodness of God. When life doesn’t make sense, God is good.  When life is hard, God is good.  When life hurts, God is good.  When thanksgiving seems impossible, God is good.  In all things, at all times, in all ways … God is good.

When have you been challenged to give the difficult thanks?

Recommended Listening:

Blessed Be Your Name, Matt Redmon … My favorite part of this song is, “Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise.  And when the darkness closes in still I will say, Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Praise You in This Storm, Casting Crowns … Beautiful, poignant reminder that we are never removed from His loving care.  “As your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.”

Recommended Reading:

Our own Kristi Stephens has written a beautiful series on Job.  I highly encourage you to take some time to read her posts and she examines, “How Could a Good God …”