Finally, we need to see that God sometimes refuses prayer because He wants to break us, like breaking David, or wants to vindicate Himself and His holiness. In the following illustration, Job was a righteous man who had herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and children. One day a servant came to tell him that the Sabeans had stolen all his cattle. Then another servant told him that fire from heaven had burned up all his flocks; nothing was left. Yet another servant told him that he had been robbed and nothing was left. Finally, another servant then came and told him that a great wind from beyond the desert had destroyed his house and killed all his children. Four different servants came and told him that nothing was left (Job 1:13-18). Then Job, whom the Lord said knew of His endurance, rose up, tore his clothes, shaved his head, and fell to the earth and worshipped (v. 20). This was the first thing he did. He not only worshipped God Himself but also His ways. Please remember that there was no element of vindication in this instance as there was in the case of David. It was purely a matter of God doing as He pleased. Nothing was going the right way; there was only suffering. In one day he lost everything; in a matter of minutes he was bereft of everything. Job was a man who submitted to the ways of God. He was able to say, "God, You have done right."
Brothers and sisters, I do not know what you have gone through, but I do know that God is doing a stripping work on many people, causing them to lose much and blocking their ways. I would like to find out how they are reacting. Many people disqualify themselves from blessing because they keep kicking, fighting, and questioning. They murmur, "Why do others not have such difficulties? Why am I the only one with problems? Everyone else turns mud into gold, but I turn gold into mud. Everything I touch goes wrong." They do not understand why it goes well with others while they have problems. It is easy for others to be Christians, but with them it is not so easy. Perhaps they can do things better than others, but they meet with so many difficult situations. Let me say that it does not matter what we say. We still must learn to obey God and submit before Him. We must learn to receive God's ways. God is in our business, among our friends, and in our environment. The ways He has ordained for us are all good. They are good both in suffering and in happiness. When we submit to God's ways, we will worship.
A true worshipper cannot complain. Job 1:20 tells us that we must accept the Lord's ways without question. It does not matter whether the circumstances are good or bad. Practicing this is true worship. I do not know what God's ways are with us. It does not matter whether or not God provides a reason for our suffering; God is always good. God had a reason in David's case; it was his sin. We are able to explain this suffering. However, often there is no reason, no sin. We are not worse than other Christians; we may even be somewhat better than others. So then why do we meet with these difficulties? We should only praise God from the bottom of our hearts and submit to His ways. We must say, "God, what You have done is best. I bow before You in worship because what You have done is best."
May God grant us grace from this day forth to offer Him not only the worship that is borne out of revelation but also the worship that expresses itself in submission and consecration. There are two aspects to our worship; one comes through revelation, and it is the worship of God Himself. The other is to worship the ways of God through our submission. We must say that whatever God does to us is right. Whatever God does is always right.
O God, our God, we want to bow down and worship You. Everything that You have ordained is good. We often choose our own way, but You hinder us and do not prosper us. You seem to cause us to run into a wall. We would like to say that this is best if it pleases You. We cannot ask why You have done this. We cannot ask why You have treated our brothers and sisters in one way and us in another way. We cannot ask why You have given grace to some brothers and sisters but do not give grace to us. We want to accept Your ways. We want to accept them when they are reasonable and when they are not. We want to accept them when they prosper us and when they do not. Teach us to see our ways, and teach us to see Your ways. You do not need to give us a reason for what You have done. Whatever You do is right. Stop us from arguing and reasoning about every matter. Save us from all the "whys." Save us from all the questionings. We look to You to save us. Bring our hearts to the point where we become the footstool to Your throne for You to step. Enable us to submit and to worship. Bless our brothers and sisters. We look to You to give grace to us. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen.