When I Don't Understand Him, I'll Worship Him

Introduction: Viktor Frankl

Chuck Swindoll once stated, "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it."

In 1942, Viktor Frankl and his family were deported to a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Over the next three years, he was transferred to Auschwitz and other camps. During this time, he lost his parents, brother, and wife, Tilly, who was pregnant when she was murdered. He endured starvation, forced labor, and the constant threat of death.

Despite the difficulties he experiened, Frankl reached the following conclusion after observing those who experienced the tragedy of Nazism: the difference between those who gave up and those who survived often came down to a sense of purpose. Those who had something to live for—a loved one, a project, or a belief—were more resilient.

Frankl realized that while the Nazis controlled his body, they couldn’t control his mind or spirit. He wrote:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

After the war, Frankl returned to Vienna, where he wrote Man’s Search for Meaning in just nine days. Published in 1946, the book is part memoir and part philosophical exploration of logotherapy. Its core messages include:

Purpose can be found in anything—death, suffering, etc.

Humans have been given the freedom to choose their response to that which they experience, no matter how terrible the experience may be.

The ultimate purpose for living is the pursuit of meaning (not the pursuit of pleasure, power, or other things).

Frankl stands in agreement with Swindoll: Life is not made of what we experience, but how we respond to those experiences—whether good or bad.

No one teaches us this lesson in Scripture better than Job.

The Life Principle We Learn from Job

The Bible records a story about Job—a man of complete integrity, great character, and an impeccable reputation. He was noble and blameless before men. He was blessed with all material blessings, including cattle, riches, and a prosperous family. By many people’s standards, Job was the epitome of what it truly means to be successful.

All of this is recorded to set the reader up for the more startling focus of this book: the wager between God and Satan. And this is where much of the tension is found in the text. The book of Job seeks to demonstrate how God, at least in this instance, uses human(s) to prove a point to the devil. The details are found in two places: Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-6.

Job 1:6–12 NLT

6 One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. 7 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” 8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” 9 Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 11 But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” 12 “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

Job 2:1–6 NLT

1 One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. 2 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” 3 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.” 4 Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. 5 But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!” 6 “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.”

Each one of these testaments begin with “one day.” In one day, Job’s life changed. In just one day, Job’s entire theology and understanding of God was altered. By one day, Job was able to determine just what it means to live as a integral human being submitted under the sovereignty of God.

Today, I pray for you as you may face your own “one day.” I pray your faith will not fail you, but you will find comfort in the midst of not knowing, while discovering things you can never explain.

During this process of suffering Job experienced the following:

Loss of all his animals and death of his farmers (Job 1:14-15)

Loss of his sheep and shepherds (Job 1:16)

Loss of his camels and more servants (Job 1:17)

Loss of his children (Job 1:18-19)

Loss of health (Job 2:7-8)

Horatio Gates Spafford (1828–1888), an American lawyer, Presbyterian church elder. He could somewhat relate to the tragedies Job experienced in his life, because his life was brutally marred by tragedy after tragedy.

Loss of Property: He lost much of his wealth in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Family Tragedy: His son died of scarlet fever, and later, all four of his daughters perished when their ship sank in the Atlantic.

While traveling to join his grieving wife, who survived the shipwreck, Spafford wrote a hymn with these words,

When peace like a river attended my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say It is well, it is well, with my soul

The Resolve in Examples from the Life of Job

God’s argument against Satan was that he would maintain his integrity and never curse Him, even when things get bad.

When Job’s wife saw his response to these things, she asked the following,

Job 2:9 “9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain [grasping for] your integrity [blamelessness or state of innocence]? Curse God and die.””

Job’s response was key. He stated in Job 2:10 “10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good [that which is pleasing, valuable, or useful] things from the hand of God and never anything bad [that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune]?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.”

Principle #1: God delivers to man both good and evil. And in both instances our response to such things must be the same.

Our response to that which God deals to us must not be different. And perhaps, the surprise is that God deals both good and bad, and not just good. Nevertheless, we must be consistent in our response to both experiences.

Seneca who was a bit more elaborate in his explanation, wrote,

God, that magnificent parent, a severe exactor of virtues, bringeth up to hardness, as stern fathers do their children. Therefore, when thou shalt see good men, and such as are acceptable to the gods, work laboriously, sweat, and ascend lofty heights; think on these things; God does not bring up a good man in the midst of luxuries, he proves him, he hardens him against afflictions, he prepares him for his own purposes.

And this is is precisely what Paul alludes to in 2 Corinthians 4:17. For Paul, suffering—the evil that God brings into one’s life—is not without a purpose. For, if God were to bring purposeless evil into one’s life it would all be a shame and the greatest testament of God’s unholiness. Yet, He is holy because whatsoever He allows comes with a purpose. So, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17 “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”

Here—we have a reason to bask in the glory of God. For, He is not your average deity. He reigns with supreme wisdom and knowledge; power and authority. So, then, the response for that which is experienced—whether good or bad—is always to remain consistent. For, such experiences come from He who is most holy and honorable.

Principle #2: Worship is the response God expects when we face suffering.

Such a response which is expected is worship. This is why when Job lost all his possessions, He fell to his knees and worshipped God.

Job 1:20–22 NLT

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Conclusion: Richard Wurmbrand

Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor, was imprisoned and tortured for 14 years under the Communist regime for his faith.

Response: Despite brutal beatings and isolation, Wurmbrand sang hymns and worshipped God in his cell. He later said, “I have seen Christians in communist prisons with fifty pounds of chains on their feet, tortured with red-hot iron pokers, and whose throats were slit, who were praying with fervor for their persecutors.”

Sometimes, we don’t understand what God is doing. Yet, our response should still be the same—Worship!