How to worship when you are wounded

How to worship when you are wounded
source:RWMT


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Job's story is in the Bible for one question. Will I worship God if
everything goes wrong in my life?




Everybody goes through wounding experiences in life – even
those of us in ministry. Whether these wounds are physical,
spiritual, emotional, or relational, they're either in your life now
or they're coming. So what do we do when we're wounded?
Worship. It's the only antidote to our pain.

Job is a great example of this. He lost everything – his wealth,
family, friends, and health – in a 24-hour period. In one day, Job
goes from a hero to a zero. Throughout the book of Job we see a
man who is deeply wounded: physically, emotionally, and
relationally. Yet the book also tells the story of how Job
worshiped God instead of becoming bitter.

How do you do that? How do you connect with God during a crisis
in your life? Many of you had a crisis this week. Others have been
carrying around wounds your entire life and haven't been able to
get rid of them. To worship in the midst of this pain, you need to:

1. Grieve. Tell God exactly how you feel. You need to unload all
of your feelings. When you share your feelings with God, when
you trust him with your pain, you're worshiping – even when
those feelings are negative.

Job expressed his pain to God. Job 1:20 (CEV) says: "Job stood
up, he tore his robe in grief, shaved his head, and he fell to the
ground and worshiped." In the ancient Middle East, that's what
people did when they wanted to express frustration, anger, or
deep grief – they tore their clothes.

God did not make our bodies to handle negative emotions. God
never designed them that way. When we swallow our emotions,
our stomach keeps score.

So the first thing you do when you experience pain in life is
confess it. Tell God you don't like what happened – it stinks! Don't
worry. God can handle it.

2. Praise God. After you grieve, praise God in spite of your
circumstances. Don't thank God for your problems, but thank him
in the midst of your problems.

Job's story is in the Bible for one question. Will I worship God if
everything goes wrong in my life? Would you? It's easy to
worship God when everything's going your way. It's easy to be a
fair weather believer.

But what happens when everything goes badly in your life?
Would you still trust God? That's the ultimate test of faith. You're
going to be tested. That's guaranteed. At some point in your life,
everything is going to fall apart.

Yet there's a lot you can praise God for even when life is bleak. I
used to think life was mountains and valleys – highs and lows. But
the longer I live, the more I realize that's not reality. There's
never a time in your life when everything is perfect. And there's
never a time in your life when everything is bad. Actually, life is
more like two rails on a railroad track. One of them is the good
things in your life and the other one of them is the bad. You get
both all the time.

Job chose to thank God in spite of his pain – and so can you.

3. Ask God for wisdom and strength. When we're wounded, more
than anything else we need wisdom and strength – to know what
to do and to get the power to do it. Throughout his story, Job
depended on God for wisdom and strength.

You don't think straight when you are wounded. You start thinking
goofy thoughts, such as retaliating and getting revenge. You need
wisdom. The Bible says this: "True wisdom and real power
belong to God. From him we learn how to live and also what to
live for." (Job 12:13 MSG)

You also need strength – the power to do the right thing. Psalm
37:39 says, "The Lord saves good people and he is their strength
in times of trouble." (NCV)

I don't know what kind of problem you're going through right
now, but I do know that God is waiting to strengthen you. When
you become a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the exact same
problems before you became a follower of Jesus. You're not
exempt! But now you have God's wisdom and strength available
to you – so ask him for it!


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If you haven't learned how to share your pain, you'll never get
well. You'll hurt the rest of
your life.

Rick Warren
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4. Gather with others for support. God doesn't want you to
worship by yourself. You were never meant to handle all your
pain – and all of your wounds – alone. If you haven't learned how
to share your pain, you'll never get well. You'll hurt the rest of
your life.

Here's the problem: When we're wounded, it is human nature to
withdraw. When we get hurt, we put up barriers. We put up
boundaries. We put up walls. We pull back into a shell. We lock
ourselves into self-imposed prisons. That's just stupid. You're
never going to get well until you learn to open up again.

That's why even pastors need to be in a small group – a group of
others in ministry and a group in your church. A recent survey
said that 25 percent of Americans say they have no close friends
to depend on. If you don't need a small group, you will. You're
going to need people who are committed to you that when
everything drops out of your life, they'll still be there.

5. Keep on going. Did you know that keeping on keeping on is
actually an act of worship? In Job 2, Job's wife suggested that he
"curse God and die." She suggests her husband end his pain on
the spot by killing himself. But Job refuses. Instead he says,
Though he [God] slay me yet will I trust him."

That is the ultimate statement of faith. When all looked doomed,
Job trusted God and kept going.

What gave Job that kind of depth? In Job 19:25, Job says, "I know
that my redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the
earth." Job expected a coming savior, a redeemer.

Any pain you have is relatively short compared to eternity. One
day, if you've put your trust in God and in his redeemer, then
you'll live with him forever in eternity. And there will be no more
pain there, and no more suffering, and no more sorrow. So hang
on by not looking at the here and now but by remembering what
God has planned for you in eternity.

Those of us in ministry are not exempt from pain. Whether you're
experiencing pain because of unfair criticism, exhaustion, or
even a problem you caused yourself, or if there is pain from your
past that you've never dealt with, please don't ignore it. Don't let
it rob your ministry and block the worship you should be giving
God. Deal with it today. Grieve for the pain that's in your life.
Praise God in the midst of the pain. Ask God for wisdom and
strength. Gather with others for support. And keep on keeping on.

Remember, your redeemer lives!

source: RWMT