Tuesday, September 22. Quick, look out your window! See that? It’s the first day of autumn! That’s right, summer is now behind us. Of course, in the Midwest where I live, we usually skip autumn and go right to Polar Vortex.
Speaking of vortex, it’s easy to get sucked into the crazy that is 2020 and stay there. Every time you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse it says, “Hold my beer.”
You know who probably thought it couldn’t get any worse? Job, of biblical fame. After a very good weekend in Las Vegas, Satan saunters up to God and bets that he can get Job to curse Him. God agrees to the wager but stipulates that no harm can come to Job himself.
This is how it plays out in the DIV (Dave’s Imaginative Version):
Job is at home one day when one of his field hands shows up and tells him that his farm has been attacked by raiders. The assailants killed the other laborers and made off with all their livestock.
Job is shocked.
Before the field hand finishes, however, one of his Job’s sheep herders arrives and tells him that all of the sheep and the other shepherds in the field have been killed by bolts of lightning. Fried to a crisp.
Job is horrified. A double-whammy. How can this be?
But before the shepherd finishes, one of the camel drivers shows up in a panic and tells him that a different group of raiders ambushed them, killed the other drivers and took the camels!
Reeling, Job thinks it can’t possibly get any worse. Somewhere in the ether, Satan hands his beer to one of his minions.
Before the camel driver finishes, a friend of Job’s kids shows up. He explains that he was at a party with them when a tornado hit the house, causing it to collapse and killing everyone inside.
Job pauses a moment, wondering if there’s anything else about to hit him. Then he stands up, tears his robe, shaves his head and falls to the ground to worship God.
“I came into this world with nothing and I’ll depart with nothing. God gives, God takes. May His name be praised,” he whispers.
Job doesn’t accuse God of wrongdoing and Satan loses his bet.
Job 1:13-22
The key verse, of course, is the last one, in which Job didn’t sin by blaming God for his troubles. Such an attitude comes with the peace found in Jesus Christ.
Similarly, in spite of 2020’s troubles, the Lord is being honored in small and large ways. The video below is from Sean Feucht’s Facebook page. Sean crisscrosses the country leading “Let Us Worship” events. Here’s how The Christian Post described his recent visit to Chicago, which has been wracked by riots and violence.
Police in Chicago prevented popular California worship leader Sean Feucht and the “Let Us Worship” movement from setting up musical equipment for a “riots to revival” worship protest to be attended by hundreds at a park in the city’s South Side Wednesday, the evangelist said.
Feucht, who’s led several worship events in cities impacted by riots in recent weeks, said on Facebook that Chicago police threatened to take action if the group began to set up musical equipment for a worship event at Washington Park that they did not have a permit for.
Feucht, the founder of the Let Us Worship movement who is known for his work with Bethel Music, charged that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot “shut us down” and said that police threatened to arrest him and others if they began to set up the gear.
Because they didn’t have the permit and didn’t want to cause trouble, they simply went acoustic. Another group honoring God was Calvary Chapel Church in Chino Hills, California. They held an outdoor baptism “where nearly 1,000 people made a public declaration of their faith in Jesus Christ.”
Church Director Gina Gleason told CBN News that “California may be experiencing a spiritual revival.” She explained that the typical number of candidates for baptism is 300 but Saturday saw over three times that.
“It’s remarkable and a significant number,” she added.
The area where everyone assembled, also known as Pirate’s Cove, reflected a scene of jubilation as adults, children, and families encountered the love and goodness of God.
In the second half of the article, Sean Feucht is again quoted after a concert in Pismo Beach.
When things get crazy, people will turn to God. Not everyone, of course, but many do. Most people feel no need for God when they are at peace. It’s only when their cup is shaken that they see what spills out.
In spite of all that 2020 has thrown at us, God is still at work among His people. Like Job, Sean Feucht and Calvary Chapel—and many others—remain faithful and continue to honor God in the midst of the storm.
Their example encourages those who follow Christ to do the same.
Photo by Ivan Siarbolin from Pexels