When the world looks at us during tragedies, what do they see? While the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world, while riots resulted from government takeovers, racial disputes, vaccine mandates, while people lost loved ones to illness, suicide, murder, natural disasters, it was interesting to watch the church’s response across the globe. I saw many believers who seemed just as filled with fear, anger, and hatred as the world.
And what did they see when they looked at me? Was I a light amid darkness? Do I provide hope? How do I respond when life isn’t a charcuterie board filled with salty, tart and sweet delicacies from which I can pick, choose and refuse?
A picture is worth a thousand words
There's been a painting in my head for almost a decade. I painted it once, but I didn’t really have the skill set to render my exact vision. My sister liked my amateurish attempt at it and has hung it on a wall in her guest room, and whenever I visit her I look at it and think about what it means. But let me describe it to you.
It's a road through a forest, curving from the bottom right corner of the frame to the top left side. The scene is divided in half by a white line. The right side of the white line is night with a pitch-black sky; the road is dry and cracked and meandering through a dead forest. On the left side of the white line is daytime. It’s teeming with life - the sky is blue with a few clouds, the trees are green, the road is smooth. A scarlet thread is woven into the white line from one end to the other. This connects the two sides of the painting and it's called, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
The Redman’s and 9/11
The painting was inspired by the song, “Blessed Be Your Name” by a Christian artist named Matt Redman, co-written with his wife Beth, in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA. They had surveyed Christian worship music and hadn’t found sufficient material to help the church respond to that tragedy.
According to the Redman’s, the song, a lament, was inspired by what Job said at the end of the first chapter of his book, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job chapter 1, verse 21).
The Painting, the Song, and the Bible
When I look at that painting I think of that song. One verse goes:
"Blessed be Your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name”
"Blessed be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name”
When I sing the song, I think of Job and other scriptures that share similar responses to God amid confounding occurrences. Take the prophet Habakkuk, for example. He said, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk chapter 3, verses 17 to 18).
When I think of the scriptures I reflect on my life. Do I say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord” in good times and bad? Or am I too busy trying to make my situation better or plead with God to make it better? Am I too distracted scrolling through the carefully curated lives of acquaintances and strangers on social media, and wanting to be like them?
The challenge of Job
The painting, the song, the verses speak of choice - choosing to worship God even though life is beating you with a stick. Why? Because God is still worthy to be praised - we are not destroyed by the tragedies we face. We who purport to believe in God know that His plans for us are for our good and to give us hope and an expected end (Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11).
At that moment when Job declared his fateful words, he had just lost all ten of his children, all his wealth, and he hadn't done anything to deserve it.
Are we like Job or like his wife?
When we look at the story of Job we see two responses to the same tragedy.
Job’s wife had also just lost all ten of her children, all her wealth, and she hadn’t done anything to deserve it. But what was her response? "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job chapter 2 verse 9)
The world may curse God when tragedies occur, but like the Redman’s and Job, we can say:
"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise,
When the darkness closes in Lord
Still, I will say
Blessed be the Name of the Lord"
When the world looks at us and our faith in God, do they see Christ?
“In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John chapter 16 verse 33).