More Thoughts on Worship

In my last post I revealed an embarrassing incident that God used to speak to me about how we let things hinder our worship. That particular day it was an article of clothing for me. God let me know that worship has everything to do with the condition of my heart and I alone am responsible for my worship experience. God is always the same. I'm the one who gets distracted.

For the past few days, worship has been on my mind. The Holy Spirit kept bringing up the word circumstances. We are to worship God regardless of our circumstances, not just when things are going well and we feel like it.

In Genesis 22 we find Abraham on the way to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his only son Isaac. He tells his servants that he and Isaac were going to worship and they would come back to them. Abraham was facing the most difficult thing a parent could ever imagine, giving up a child, and yet he still trusted God enough to worship Him. He didn't let his circumstances keep him from worship.

In 2 Samuel 12 we know that after David learns of the death of his son, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Difficult circumstances.

Daniel 6 finds us in Babylon. The government officials were determined to get rid of Daniel for good, so they convinced the king to issue an edict that anyone who prayed to any god or man other than King Darius should be thrown into the lions' den. Even though Daniel knew about the decree, he got down on his knees and prayed to his God as always. Daniel knew that this could land him in the lions' den. Death is a pretty dire circumstance. He worshiped anyway.

In Acts 16 we find Paul and Silas. They had been severely beaten and thrown in jail. We see them in their chains, yet they were praying and singing hymns to God. Worship in the worst of circumstances.

This past weekend we learned of some difficult circumstances that someone close to our family was experiencing. It rocked our world. We were heartbroken for them and my husband and I shed many tears for them. We had a choice to make; we could stay home from church on Sunday and wallow in grief, or we could go to church and worship our God who is bigger than any circumstance. We chose to worship. We were able to give the circumstances to Him and in return we had His assurance that He had everything in the palm of His hand. We came away refreshed, with lighter hearts.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; Psalm 29:2

How Firm a Foundation

I will never forget that particular Sunday morning. I was going through the normal Sunday morning routine preparing to go to church to worship my Jesus. It was a pretty ordinary day until I remembered that I had purchased something new called Spanx. Spanx™ are a type of undergarment designed to reshape you.The saleswoman told me that this “foundation garment” would change my life! So I decided that this would be the morning that I would reshape myself and have a life changing experience.

With eager anticipation of a new and svelte me, I carefully pulled the undies out of their package. Out came something so small that it looked like a pair of footless tights that belonged to a toddler. Good grief! How in the world was I supposed to get into these tiny little things? I was not going to let their teeny, tiny size deter me from my goal! So with much determination, I began the life changing process of getting into this fashion miracle.

I put one foot in, then the other. So far, so good. I managed to pull the garment up to my shins and then it quickly became apparent that I was going to have to really work to get them up any further. So I began to hop and pull on the Spanx™ at the same time. It kind of reminded me of the potato sack races we used to do in grade school. Finally, I was getting somewhere. I hopped and pulled, and hopped and pulled, and was making great progress. Just as I had almost achieved the impossible, the unthinkable happened. My feet got tangled up and down I went, sprawled out in the floor, the perfect picture of grace. A quick word of advice: NEVER try new undergarments on Sunday morning without giving them a trial run first!

While I was lying there trying to catch my breath, Robert walked in, looked at me lying in the floor and said, "We are going to be late for church". And then he turned around and went out to the car to wait for me. Ummm, thanks for the concern honey.

By this time, I had worked up quite a sweat with my little hopping and pulling aerobics. I was also having a hard time breathing, due to the constriction of the Spanx™. And then wouldn't you know it, I had to use the restroom. Oh. My. Word. So I began the arduous process of removing the Spanx™. And then it hit me; what in the world would I do if I had to use the restroom during church? What if I couldn't get them off? And seriously, it really was hard to breathe. All these things started rolling around in my mind. I was so focused on my uncomfortable predicament that I totally lost focus on what the day was all about.

And then an amazing thing happened. The Holy Spirit said, "This garment would hinder your worship." Wow. The Sovereign God of the universe used something goofy that I had done to teach me a lesson on worship. I had become so concerned with my uncomfortable garment that it would have been impossible to keep my mind on why I was going to church. My discomfort would have been my primary focus, not Jesus. He reminded me that worship is at the heart of my relationship with Him. It has to do with the condition of my heart. And if my heart is divided and distracted by other things I cannot possibly worship Jesus in the way He desires to be worshiped.

Is there something that is hindering your worship? Ask God to point it out to you. We owe Him nothing less than our undivided hearts.

Life is Good,

Cindy