Unlocking the Heavens: Release the Supernatural Power of Your Worship (6 page)

Here is another example of how God exceeds our comprehension. The book of Ezekiel portrays Him as having four faces—the face of a lion, the face of a man, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle—and each face represents a different part of His nature. There’s more. With four faces, one on each side, God has no back! This shows us why you cannot back God into a corner, and why regardless of which direction you go, He’s always going forward. God is so vast that you and I will spend an eternity discovering His limitlessness, and we will never have to look over the same part of Him twice. Even in Heaven, every time we will look at Him, we will notice a different facet of His grace.

JOB USED TO THINK HE KNEW GOD

At the root, I believe this was Job’s conflict. He was a godly man, and he thought he understood God; but when God allowed Job’s life to fall apart, Job found out that he didn’t know his God after all. His circumstances didn’t seem to be lining up within the parameters of his theological understanding of God. He found himself in a monumental conflict. It’s a good thing that God put the book of Job in the Bible so we could learn an important perspective.

Just for a quick review: the first attack came against his family, and we read about it in chapter one. A tornado knocked down the house, killing all of his young adult children who were inside. When he heard the devastating news, Job stood firm in his faith. Then in chapter two, Job was stricken with painful boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. All he could do was sit in one place, scraping at his skin with a potsherd, a piece of broken pottery. His suffering was almost impossible to watch. As a result, his wife began to crack. She told him, “Job, curse God so He’ll kill you, and you can die” (see Job 2:9). The Bible says that in all of this, Job didn’t sin. In fact, Job observed that we humans seem to be better able to accept good from God than bad. We want to be blessed, but we don’t want to have trouble. (This sounds like many Christians I know.)

Along came Job’s three friends, Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar. Having heard about Job’s trouble, they came to his house. When they saw him, they were so appalled that they sat down for seven days without speaking a word to him. This situation was beyond words. How could such a righteous man be forced to suffer such great torment?

By chapter three, Job was beginning to crack. He cursed the day he was born. I find this strangely encouraging, because I’m much like that myself. The first time an attack comes, I rebuke the devil, square my shoulders, and praise God. I get the victory. Then another attack comes but the first attack hasn’t left yet. I’m still saying, “Praise God,” except now I’m not dancing while I do it. I’m just kind of muttering, “Praise God, I’ve got the victory; I’m just holding on. Hallelujah!” Then when that attack doesn’t leave either, I begin to consider throwing in the towel. This is where we can start to learn some important lessons from Job.

Lesson Number One: Your trials are always personal
.

The devil knows how to push your buttons. The devil knows exactly where to hit you to get you to break. He knew how to test Job where it hurt the most. He doesn’t afflict people in the same ways. He might hit you in the area of finances. For me, he might confine his attack to the area of sickness. He knows exactly how to make your trial personal.

God had said, “Man, look at My servant Job.” The devil had said, “Yeah, but I know exactly how to get to him. Take Your hand of blessing off him and let me deprive him of what he has and then he’ll curse You.”

Well, he didn’t. God took His hand of protection off Job. He lost everything that he held dear, but he kept his faith. Then the devil took his health. God said, “You can touch him but you can’t kill him.” (The devil is always on a leash. He can go only so far. God will always pull him back before he’s crossed the line.) Under that assault, Job became weak. For the next thirty-three chapters, his friends Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar were trying to figure out Job’s problem. “What in the world did you do wrong, Buddy, to deserve what’s going on in your life?” Now that’s the kind of friends you need around you when you’re in trouble, right? For thirty-three chapters!

Lesson Number Two: The length of the trial always determines your weariness
.

Anybody can hold on to their faith when they’re attacked once. Anybody can hold on to their faith when they’re attacked twice, but what happens when your prayers are not answered and when the attacks don’t leave for thirty days and sixty days and ninety days, or maybe a year, or maybe two years? You’re still going to the altar. You’re still paying your tithe. You’re still giving sacrifices to God; but, somehow, nothing is changing. Your weariness grows. You try to figure out why this is happening, but neither you nor your friends have any idea what to do.

Lesson Number Three: When you’re in the night, be careful about people’s advice
.

Many times it’s better to go through your mess with nobody but yourself and Jesus than to bring in a Bildad, Eliphaz, or a Zophar who will give you bad advice and keep you in your mess. Maybe the reason Job had to endure from chapter three all the way to chapter thirty-two before anything started to change for him was that he was listening to his three friends. All of us must go through night seasons when we don’t know what God is doing. In a night season of your life, you need to be careful about the people you let come into your inner circle to give you advice. If someone gives you the wrong advice, they could keep you in your trouble even longer.

Lesson Number Four: God does not give us songs in the day. He gives songs in the night
.

Late in the book of Job, a fourth character comes into the story. His name is Elihu. The Bible says he’s a young man. First, he listens to the others. Then, irritated with the way things are going, he speaks up and begins to tell Job what his mistake was. He says, “You’re accusing God of being unjust. Job, you’re so mixed up. You keep asking God why He is doing this to you. Why? Why? Why? I want to give you a revelation. That’s the wrong question. You will never, ever figure it out. Instead of asking, ‘Why is this happening?’ You should be asking ‘Where is the God who gives me a victory song in the middle of my night season?’” (Now some people think that Elihu was misled and that the information that he gave to Job was wrong. I don’t think so, because God never rebuked Elihu when He rebuked Job’s other friends.)

GOD BREAKS THROUGH THE DARKNESS

God broke through for Job, because He will always come on behalf of each of His children. Time after time, the Bible shows God breaking through darkness and confusion. For example, look at the creation event itself:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light
(Genesis 1:1-3 KJV).

God Himself , who is light, stepped into the darkness and said, “Let there be light,” which put a dividing line between darkness and light so that He could call the darkness
night
and the light
day
, because the sun, moon, and stars did not showup until the third day. When darkness is covering everything, when chaos rules, when the world is in trouble and when nobody can help it—not the scientists, the politicians, or the theologians—at the darkest-seeming moment, that’s when God breaks in.

God broke through the darkness for Abraham. God promised him, “You’re going to have a son.” For twenty-five years, he stood on that promise; yet, he had no son, It was a dark time. Sodom and Gomorrah were slated for destruction. Sarah and Abraham grew too old to have children. Then one day, the angel of the Lord brought God’s power into their lives, Sarah conceived, and nine months later she bore the child Isaac who had been promised so long before. God’s light came in the darkest time.

Later in the book of Exodus we read about the children of Israel in Egyptian captivity. When the plague of darkness covered the land in Egypt, light shone for the Israelites in Goshen (see Exodus 10:23). God’s light kept shining in the midst of the dreadful darkness.

In addition, think about the birth of Jesus. The nation of Israel was suffering under Roman rule. For four hundred years, no prophetic revelation had pierced the darkness. In the midst of that endless night, light came to some shepherd boys were camped in a field.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. …And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
(Luke 2:9,13-14)

In the midst of the darkness of the night, God broke in and changed their lives with a song. Humanity had been lost for thousands of years because of the sin of Adam and Eve, but now the light of the world had come, piercing the darkness with news of a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. That baby was Jesus, the Word of God and the Light of the world. Here’s how John described Him:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it
(John 1:1-5 NRSV).

In other words, whenever God decides to step into your personal dark time, the darkness cannot overcome it.

So instead of asking God “Why,” start asking, “Where is the God I know?” Confess the truth that even in the midst of pain and misery you serve the God who always shows up. His light turns your life around, puts a song in your heart and a spring in your step.

GOD COMES THROUGH

Think of Paul and Silas. They had been badly beaten. They were in pain and in trouble, but in the darkness of that hour God gave them a song—the sound of that song in the middle of the night broke their chains. Shackles fell to the ground (see Acts 16). They didn’t wait until morning to worship God. They sang to God in the darkest night, and He turned their darkness into day. God is the master of turning darkness into light! In fact, I’m convinced that’s the reason He told Israel to count their days starting from the evening—evening and the morning for one day (see Genesis 1:5).

We might not even see Him come through because it’s going to be dark, but one thing we can be sure of—although tonight might bring some weeping mixed with our worship, tomorrow morning there’ll be joy. We praise Him until we get a release. It’s more than singing a chorus and clapping our hands together. We start looking for Him. We just forget about the unresolved conflict of
why
and start looking for the God who shows up in the night. We won’t ever be able to resolve everything. We won’t know some things until we get to Heaven. What we need more than answers is to have God step into our current night.

A believer’s praise is a powerful weapon. When the devil hears it, it disarms him. Praise does not make logical sense. Praise says, “Even though it looks bad, God is still God, and He comes through in the night.” Praise really confuses the spirit realm. The devil doesn’t like it at all.

God came through for Job, and the devil gave up the fight. As soon as Elihu finished talking, Job prayed for his friends. He said, “Lord, forgive my foolish friends.” He quit asking God why. He could see that nobody could give him an answer. He could see that the issue isn’t
why
. The issue is, “Where’s God?” Where is the God who gives victory songs in the night? As soon as Job got this revelation, he got double for his trouble:

…The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had owned before. …The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than the first part. Job had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand teams of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. Job also had seven sons and three daughters. … There were no other women in all the land as beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father Job gave them land to own along with their brothers. After this, Job lived one hundred forty years. He lived to see his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren
(Job 42:10,12-13,15-16 NCV).

The same thing applies to every one of us. It doesn’t matter what kind of trouble you’re in, or even if you have created your own trouble. God wants to come through for you. Before anything else you have to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life. Then you will have something to sing about. Nothing is going to turn around in your life until you have Jesus; but after you have Him, God will start something brand new with you. Songs in the night can become a wonderful part of your new life.

Chapter 6

A NOISE OF WAR IN THE CAMP

When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp”
(E
XODUS
32:17)
.

W
hen Moses went up on Mount Sinai for an extended period of time, God gave him detailed instructions about how to set up the tabernacle. Down in the valley, the people of Israel, under the leadership of Aaron, decided to fashion a golden calf, which they began to worship. Angered by their idol worship, God commanded Moses to go down the mountain. Halfway down, Moses found Joshua waiting for him—he was standing there listening to people in the valley below. When Moses descended to the spot where Joshua was waiting, Joshua made a statement that every believer should take note of. He said, “There’s a noise of war in the camp.”

And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” But he [Moses] said: “It is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear”
(Exodus 32:15-18).