Recently the Lord has been speaking to me about worship. He called me to have a night of worship in the store. I am not a worship leader. I had no idea what I was doing. Yet, with some hesitation, I did it anyway. I obeyed.
The Lord used the night to continue teaching me about worship. In the very middle of my worship the enemy began to put thoughts in my head. Thoughts like how I was an imposter, and questioning who I was worshiping and if I truly believed. How is this possible? In this holy space I have completely surrendered to the Lord, during worship, the enemy attacks. I didn't share what had happened with anyone for days, maybe even weeks after. In the days after the worship night the Lord walked me through this moment. One scripture that He showed me was in Luke. As Jesus entered Jerusalem the crowd of disciples began to praise Him joyfully with loud voices. The pharisees told Jesus to silence them, to which He replied that if the disciples were silent all of creation would cry out. Jesus was headed to a divine appointment, something so powerful was about to take place, and still the enemy was working to silence it.
The Lord revealed to me, even as I write this, that the enemy knows what worshiping the one true God can do, the mighty power it sends out. So the enemy tries to keep me or anyone else distracted and not worshiping Jesus in its feeble attempt to stall the power that is released through worship.
In His kind and gracious way the Lord continued to show me scriptures, sent songs, and even videos and facebook quotes to teach me more about worship.
Then, at my grandsons' thanksgiving performance the school director said, " this is not a performance, it is worship" "these kids are worship leaders" "Listen to the simple words of the songs and worship". What?! Okay Lord I am really listening.
Weeks later, another HUGE lesson about worship. My newest little grandson was in the hospital, my daughter was crying, and I felt helpless. Though I immediately began to pray, worry rushed in. Squeezing every cell in my body, clenching tightly. I felt sick, a headache took hold, I felt unsteady. Consumed with anxiety. I did everything I thought I could do to calm myself down. I prayed, stayed busy, took deep breaths. It wasn't until I sat down that the Lord spoke. I sat down in defeat as nothing I had done helped to calm my anxiety and worry. Within just minutes, maybe seconds, the Lord said "go and worship".
What? Worship? Okay. I got up, started the same playlist we had used at the worship night and began to surrender and worship. I just stood in my laundry room and worshiped the creator of the universe, mighty God, Jesus my Savior. The Lord used words in the songs to speak to me. I allowed the Holy Spirit to take over, fill me with peace. A calm and peace that I desperately needed. I made it through the night, and more importantly, my daughter, her husband and baby made it through the night.
After that night I continued to ponder on what the Lord had done, what He had shown me. He reminded me that in the valley, in the middle of the storm, we are made to worship. No matter what, no matter the outcome, I serve a good God and I am made to worship Him. Worshiping Jesus brings peace. It is a peace filled with true Joy. So worship-peace-joy, okay Lord I am beginning to get it.
The Lord is not finished with these lessons on worship. A couple days later, the pastor made the statement that "worry gets in the way of your worship". Wait, okay Lord, I am still listening. The pastor was teaching from Matthew 13. He quotes specifically verse 22, " The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful". Worrying removes our reliance on God and deceives us into thinking we could do anything about the situation on our own. In these situations that feel out of control, shaking our faith, we must humble ourselves before God and worship Him. He is the all mighty God, and no matter the outcome, He is Good and He loves us.
“As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.”
(Psalm 119:143 NLT)
This is exactly what the Lord did for me. He spoke a command, I obeyed, and I found and peace and ultimately joy to carry me through the uncertain situation. I know that my God is the only certainty. His love and promises are the one certainty that I can count on. If I worship Him with every breath, every move, every cell of my body, with my very life; I am consumed with His peace. His Peace, NOT worry, but the peace of the one true God.
I believe in this new year, that one of my words is worship. Yes! I am trading worry for worship this year. Lord, I do not want to carry worry into the new year. When worry tries to take hold, Lord give me the strength and faith to worship you. Lord, remind me of your loving command to worship you and continue to teach me about worship.
I pray the same for all of you. Worry is a deception and a distraction used by the enemy. There are many worries in this world but they can not stand against the power of our God. Let's unleash the power of worship. Let's worship YHWH. Please, as you enter into a new year, join me and trade your worry for worship.
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”
(Psalm 94:19)
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:6–7 NLT)