Copyright ©2020 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
This message contained an answer to a question that I posed to "the universe" many years ago. It is a question that I'm sure many people have raised, but dared not utter it out of fear. But, it dawned on me that our Father can handle any question. The true issue is whether we're mature enough to receive the answer. And, sadly, many of us (especially religious folks) are not; not because we don't want (or are not able) to be, but mainly because mainstream religion has discouraged not only existential questions, but questions period!
Whenever I look back on the time when my wife and I bought our first house, I look back on it with fondness, even with the harrowing twists and turns along the way, and even though many things have changed since those days many years ago. I remember us going to the builder, who'd set up an office at a model home. I remember us customizing the floor plan, selecting the lot, and all the other customizations and details that go along with home buying. I remember feeling so excited about the future, feeling accomplished, as we were moving along in life. We were young, married, had a cute little baby, and the future was bright. We visited the lot weekly, celebrating every little thing, from the foundation being laid, the framing being put up, the cinder block being laid, etc.
Then, in the middle of construction, I lost my job. The builder informed us that if I didn't get a job by the time construction was completed, then they would sell our house to someone else. Suddenly, the bright future that we envisioned for ourselves was in serious jeopardy of crashing down. Obviously, we turned to the LORD to make a way.
Long story short, the LORD made a way, and we were able to close on our house on schedule. As you might expect, we praised the LORD for His miraculous works!
That experience, unbeknownst to us at the time, was a precursor of even bigger challenges that lay ahead in our future. And, with the blessings of God, we have kept on keeping on, all these years later.
In a moment of contemplation, I reflected upon that time, and all of the rigorous challenges since then. If there is one thing that I'm still learning about, it is the power of praise.
We're all familiar with Psalm 150, the psalm of praise. In my opinion, it contains one of the most intense/urgent verses in the Bible:
[6] Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
This, certainly, is quite a compelling psalm and verse, and it is certainly apropos in those moments when we've cried out from the depths and been delivered. But, one thing that has always troubled me is the teaching that we should praise God in good times and in challenging times! In my spiritual naïveté, I used to think,
"Well, if God is good, why praise God for a hard time?"
And, indeed, the Bible is replete with many of His servants, the Prophets, asking God those hard questions, "Why is this happening to me? Why are You letting the wicked prosper?"
In my own life, I found myself compelled to ask some of these very same questions, to the disappointment and even trepidation of some of my loved ones! Many of them seemed to just want me to live with the pain, live with the disappointment, live with the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty; but I needed answers!
This is where many people run into an existential crisis. Some worry about questioning God, fearing that God will strike them down. Some scold you for not having enough faith, even as they have their needs met and you are struggling. Some worry that you'll become lost because you're going against your teachings. Some preach about the futility of complaining, since "God knows best" and "you can't do anything about it anyway." Some just encourage you to hold on until it's over.
I contend that, unless and until someone comes to this "place", wherever and whenever it may be for you, that one is not ready to transition from Jacob to Israel.
If God sees all, knows all, and has all power, who else is better able to answer your questions? Who else is better able to deliver you from that miry clay? But, on the flip side, who else has the power to allow (or even decree) that this trouble visit you in the first place? In short,
if God is good, and He has all power, why is it good for me to go through this trouble?
This is a devastating question that has destroyed the elementary theology that many of us who have clung to it until it was no longer sufficient... (I need at least a life raft, but all I have is a plank of wood.)
When we consider the story of Job, many of us distance ourselves from it because, maybe, we aren't rich; maybe, we don't have a husband or wife. Maybe, we don't have a lot of children. And, quite frankly, maybe we have some skeletons in our closet that make us feel unworthy (as opposed to being "perfect and upright..."). But, regardless of our degree of righteousness, regardless of the things we have acquired in life, regardless of the blessings of love and children that have been bestowed upon us, the Job story teaches us that everything, including the hard times, come from God!
Isaiah 45:7, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
There is no devil out there working against God, vying for supremacy in the universe! We read in the Sabbath siddur, "Who is like unto Thee? Who is equal to Thee? Who can be compared to Thee, O great, mighty, revered and supreme God, Possessor of heaven and earth?"
In fact, as the Job story shows us, Satan does precisely and only what God allows him to do. But, just like with Jacob, with Joseph, with Job (and countless others), we see that there is an ultimately beneficial purposefulness in divinely orchestrated challenges. As Rabbi Jehu A. Crowdy, Jr. taught, "The Gethsemane experience is not initially kind, but it is ultimately kind."
If, for example, the all the trouble did was force us to ditch an insufficient, elementary theology and "candy gospel"1 to move closer to the truth, then that trouble is what moved us closer to God. It was not initially kind, but it was ultimately kind. So, even if we are powerless to change our plight, we can seek to understand it, and wrestle with the "why" of it all. If God is the Author and Finisher of our faith, why can't we ask Him about His motivations?
Certainly, if we aren't ingrates, when His deliverance comes, we will heap praises unto the Most High God! We will look back and remember our low estate, we'll look back and remember those feelings of anxiety, confusion, and helplessness, and marvel at how all of that was turned around in just a moment!
But, even when giving praise for the bestowals and deliverance, it dawned on me that God doesn't need praise! Our praises don't add anything to Him. He is already great and mighty! He is already the Most High! What else could we give Him? Even the Psalmist asked, "What shall I render unto the LORD...?"2
But, in that same "space", it dawned on me that our praise reminds us of Who He is! We praise God, not for His sake, but for our own!
Praise reminds us that our extremity is God's opportunity. Praise reminds us that we are not alone. Praise reminds us that God and one is the majority. Praise reminds us that "I can do all things through Him that strengthens me." Praise reminds us that help is just a prayer away. Praise reminds us that deliverance is just a miracle away. Praise reminds us that the battle is not ours, but God's!
So, when the trials of life discourage us, when the pains of struggle weary us, when the uncertainty of life stresses us, praise Him, because there is power in our praise!
It is during our praise that we remember once again, "Whither shall I go from Thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence...?"3 There is nowhere I can be, there is no experience I can endure where God is not there! And furthermore, while it may be dark and stormy for us, "the darkness and the light are both alike to [God]."
Nothing is hidden from Him. Nothing is restrained from Him. Nothing can defeat Him. Nothing can outlast Him. All power is in His hands!
And that's why we praise Him in bad times; because there is power in our praise! We aren't giving power to God; we are receiving power from Him! "For by Thee have I run through a troop, and by my God have I leaped over a wall."4
I know that it's not the easiest thing to do when trouble darkens our doorstep. In fact, it may not be something that we consciously remember to do or even believe is right or appropriate. We may not feel strong enough, or even feel hypocritical for doing so. But, if there is one thing that's certain, there is power in our praise! So, "let everything that hath breath praise the LORD!"
1Hat tip to Elder Seth J. Johnson, Jr.
2See Psalm 116:12
3See Psalm 139:7-12
4See Psalm 18:29
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