Worship

Scripture

We know that Job is a book about suffering. We know that Job had friends that gave him a lot of advice and apparently none of it was very good! In Chapter 26, Job sarcastically tells them how much they are helping the feeble and weak. What it boils down to is this: You guys aren’t helping me at all. Maybe they came with a sense of duty to make sure that Job didn’t depart from following God. I don’t really know their motivation. Perhaps they were there to appear religious. I don’t really know the why, but I do know what they missed—”what does our friend need right now?” Did he need discussions on the worthlessness of man? Did he need discussions on the righteousness of God? What he needed in that moment more than anything else were people to love him. I don’t know if these friends loved him or not, but they did show up for whatever reason. They stayed with him for whatever reason, but they missed the point of why they were there. When we need to be loved we need people to be there for us. Maybe all we can do is sit with them and cry. Romans 12:15— “rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.”  It’s hard when facing tragedy and it’s hard to be around someone and not know what to say or how to encourage them. However, if you have a friend suffering, what they might need more than anything else is simply people to love them in the moment and mourn with them. Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus and Jesus knew that He would raise Lazarus. Maybe Jesus wept at the thought of what death does to us and those close to us. Maybe He wept at the thought of people who die without Him. Regardless of the full reason, Jesus wept. When those close to us are going through the mess of life that’s what they need…their loved ones to pull next to them and cry with them, mourn with them, rejoice with them and be with them. The exact same way that Jesus does for us.

Prayer

HONOR GOD

I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a permanent covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Ezekiel 37:26-27

What an honor it is that we are permanently at peace with God and that He has chosen us as His people and His dwelling place.

ASK GOD

Give us today our daily bread.

Matthew 6:11

Picture God extending His hands towards you.

What are you concerned about that needs to be placed in His hands? What is the “bread” you need from Him? Ask Him.

SUBMIT TO GOD

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:12-13

Imagine yourself entering a dark room, with a person in front of you, holding a flashlight, leading you. That’s what God does. As He leads you, tell Him how you desire to follow Him.

CLOSING PRAYER 

God, thank You for speaking to me! I will trust what You ask me to do, even when I don’t understand the reasons why. I don’t always need the answers, I just need You.  In Jesus Name, Amen.