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PERSEVERANCE IN DIFFICULTY AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP
Acts of worship come in manifold forms. I continually teach that worship and music are not synonymous; yet, the individual nuances that comprise the act of worship are numerous and multifarious. One such apparatus that fosters worship is difficulty. Difficulty, however, does not automatically equate to worship; it is the response to difficulty that has the potential to result in worship. When perseverance is coupled with difficulty, the result is God-exalting worship. Perseverance in difficulty, therefore, is an act of worship. Thus, in the discussion of perseverance in difficulty as an act of worship, there are four vital essentials which should be considered; realizing these essentials then allows Christians to respond properly to the surety that is difficulty.
Difficulty Is the Ultimate Evidence of
Christian Worship
Christian
worship, predicated on the mediation of Jesus Christ, holds a profound link
between the church’s (the body of Christ) honoring of the risen Lord and her
sharing with him in suffering. Worship is participatory in nature and not only
in a horizontal manner (with the saints) but in a vertical manner (with the
Lord); therefore, Christian worship is surely contingent upon how believers
share not only in the glorification of Christ but the suffering of Christ, for
suffering precedes glorification.
The Apostle Paul argues that all believers who aspire to live a godly life face the certainty of persecution (2 Tim 3:12). While to varying degrees, persecution is a surety for the believers and indeed the mark of one changed by Jesus Christ. As I have contended often in my ministry and teaching, worship is foundational to all Christian belief and practice. Worship then must include evidence (i.e. something must result from worship of the triune God); that evidence is difficulty. Christians are to model their lives after that of Jesus Christ who faced unwavering difficulty throughout his life and ministry. Believers, therefore, should consider difficulty a blessing and the highest evidence of Christian worship, for when God’s people suffer, they share in the suffering (and subsequently the glorification) of their Lord Jesus Christ.
Perseverance Converts Difficulty into
Doxology
How
believers respond to difficulty is also crucial. Difficulty without a proper
reaction is not God-worship but self-worship. Perseverance is the vehicle that
moves difficulty from a place of testing to worship; perseverance then converts
difficulty into doxology. Without negating the challenge of perseverance in difficulty,
Scripture’s commands to the believer are firm.
“Rejoice in hope,
be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Rom 12:12).
“Hold fast what you
have, so that no one may seize your crown” (Rev 3:11).
“…we rejoice in our
sufferings…” (Rom 5:3).
“Do not fear what you
are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into
prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be
faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10).
Perseverance, therefore,
is a command of Scripture. Said another way, the absence of perseverance is an
improper way to face difficulty (i.e. it is sin). Christians should be
encouraged and mindful of the fact that Jesus Christ, in his human nature,
faced every difficulty humans face with perfection (Heb 4:15). The imperative
variable for difficulty’s transformation into God-honoring worship is
perseverance.
Certainly, perseverance is not easy. God, however, leaves no one with excuse for a lack of perseverance under intense trials, for he did so himself. Christians may ponder why God allows demanding situations in the lives of his people. Being mindful, however, of the fact that people live in an imperfect and fallen world, it is necessary to realize that a perfect setting will come to God’s people (Rom 8:18). The toil and adversity of life in a world that is surely not the home of any Christian exists as a tool which God uses to sanctify his people by transfiguring such circumstances into doxology. Believers then should rejoice, for when difficulties arise, they are but opportunities to worship God through perseverance, which is exceedingly greater than the conditions themselves.
God Is Most Worshipped in Difficulty
Rather Than Ease
Jon
Piper has famously stated that God is most glorified in us when we are most
satisfied in him and has further clarified that such truth persists in
difficulty, not ease. Comfort has never been a mechanism in which to glorify
God. I submit that any believer may examine the course of their life and find
it challenging to observe a point when they glorified God more through ease
than they did through struggle. Trials are not arbitrary and meaningless
occurrences that happen to God’s people as a surprise to him; rather, each
difficulty that evolves in a believer’s life is purposeful (by God) and
designed (by God) to accomplish specific objectives (for God). Stated another
way, difficulties are not only allowed by God but also planned by him. God is
sovereign in all things including difficulties. To speak of God’s sovereignty
and providence only in times of pleasure is to falsely realize who he is, for
his providence abounds even in difficulties.
Christian worship should be considered synonymous with the glorification of the triune God. Thus, any means in which he is glorified is worship, which assuredly includes perseverance during trials. In fact, difficulties provide prospects of worship that otherwise would not exist. Therefore, Christians should rejoice in trials rather than complain. Even in lamenting over difficult circumstances, believers should hold their focus on the opportunity of worship that presents itself, for God is most worshipped through such difficult occasions outstandingly more than in times of decadence.
Difficulty Connects Christian Worship
to the Worship of Israel
The
Old Testament story of Israel uniquely declares a people who faced difficulty.
From the days of slavery in Egypt to the days of exile from their own homeland,
God’s people faced numerous challenges. In a similar manner, global Christians
now face tests. How believers respond to such tests signifies a heart of
worship or the lack thereof. What difficulties do, however, is connect
Christian worship to the worship of Israel, for God’s people in Israel declared
and proclaimed a holy and majestic God[1] even during times of
difficulty. For Christians to behold an explicit example of how to respond to
difficulties, Scripture is replete with models. As Israel lamented, Christians
should lament; as Israel persevered, Christians should persevere; and as Israel
worshipped, Christians should worship.[2] Difficulties are certain;
nonetheless, such circumstances are opportunities for God’s people to worship.
Perseverance then is not only the right response to trials, it is indeed an act
of worship.
