What is a Job response?

Have you ever read the story of Job?

In a nutshell, Job was a "...perfect and upright..." (Job 1:8) man of God. He was abundantly blessed with ten children and an array of thousands of sheep and camels as well as several hundred oxen and donkeys (true riches of his day). God acknowledged Job's faithfulness and uprightness, but Satan challenged the reasoning behind Job's faithfulness, attributing it to God's blessing of possessions and said to God: "...stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face" (Job 1:11). God then put everything Job had in Satan's power and Satan stole and destroyed Job's wealth and children.

I can only imagine Job's grief. "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing" (Job 1: 20-22).

Later in the story, Satan afflicts job with sores, and in a conversation with his friends, Job laments: "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the sea... Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life! Then I would still have this consolation—my joy in unrelenting pain—that I had not denied the words of the Holy One." (Job 6: 2-3...8-10).

Job's pain and suffering were severe and leads many to question, "Why, God?"

Sound familiar?

Are you suffering with loss, sickness, spiritual attack, or other hardship?

We may not fully understand on this side of Heaven why God allowed this to happen to Job, or to us. Scholars have argued that it could have been to prove Job's faithfulness or to demonstrate how to overcome suffering through worship. We see in the story that Job's friends even tried to answer this question by wrongly attributing his suffering to sin. I don't know the answer, but I do know that there is hope for the future, and that no pain or suffering is ever wasted. "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us... And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:18, 28). In Job's case, he was restored and blessed with twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10). His story is recorded in Scripture and serves as a powerful reminder of what to do in the midst of suffering... Worship through it.

An article titled The Neurophysiological Benefits of Worship by Michael Liedke, DNP, published in The Journal of Biblical Foundations of Faith and Learning gives excellent insight to the powerful response of Job and the benefits of worship for our mental health.

Liedke asserts that "The story of Job and his response to tragedy hallmarks a believer’s response to both physical and psychological stress and provides an example for the modern believer to follow... Worship is the mechanism which prompted Job’s response and can still have the same robust effects on the modern believer’s brain and lead to the same significant response to stressors in today’s world."

Leidke highlights a study by which MRI evidence proves that "Worship and prayer have a well-documented positive effect on both the person who engages in the prayer and worship, and the person who is the subject of prayer." In this study, The MRI images demonstrated an increase in brain volume and metabolic activity in the cingulate cortex, which essentially helps you become a "nicer, more forgiving and trustful person."

The study Leidke references also found a decrease in the hyperactivation of the fight or flight response. "The result is a significant decrease in the deleterious effects of chronic fight or flight activation and the decrease in heartrate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels and serum markers of inflammation... [and] also has measurable decreases in depression, anxiety, chronic pain and even posttraumatic stress."

In a second article titled Seven Immediate Benefits of Worshipping God by Walk With the Wise, a study titled the Religious Brain Project is noted as discovering several benefits of worship such as activation of the nucleus accumbens in the brain (which processes rewards) and activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (which is activated by tasks that involve judgement and moral reasoning.) The article lists the seven benefits as peace, joy, proper perspective, relief from torment, security, focus, and wisdom.

No matter what you are going through today, reflect on the goodness of God, that the name of the Lord is great and is greatly to be praised (Psalm 145:3). He who commanded the world into existence and created everything in it is almighty and powerful, worthy of praise. He who loves you with an incredible love and delights in you; he is worthy. There is no one like him and he deserves the glory!

May your day be full of love and light as you do,

References

Liedke, Michael D.N.P. (2018) "Neurophysiological Benefits of Worship," The Journal of Biblical Foundations of Faith and Learning: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 22. Available at: https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/jbffl/vol3/iss1/22

Walk with the wise (2023) "7 Immediate Benefits of Worshipping God." https://walkwiththewise.org/7-immediate-benefits-of-worshiping-god/