James 1:17-21 in the Message translations says:
‘So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of Heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all His creatures.’
I’m so thankful we serve a God who we can worship.
I remember growing up in the Catholic church and loving the times where we would ‘stand and sing from the Catholic book of worship.’ The lyrics I still remember to this day…. ‘and He will raise you up on Eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn…’ and ‘sing to the mountains, sing to the sea, raise your voices lift your hearts, this is the day the Lord has made - let all the earth rejoice!’. I loved the ‘worship time’ back then, and I love it even more now.
I’m so thankful we serve a God who gives us a tool like worship. We need to worship. I have always loved to sing, but especially love singing songs to God, and about God, but I have never really known the deep need for us as God’s own kids, to worship him, until recently when my family and I suffered a tragedy- one of those moments in life where the rug got pulled from under us. I was told when four months pregnant with our fourth baby that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. I was by myself, alone in a hospital room. (This was an unexpected thing, and so my husband Koby was home with our other three kids, preparing a turkey for a big Christmas dinner we were planning on having that night) It was in that moment, alone, when I remembered these songs, these words, these truths that I have sung so often, and how in a moment like this, of desperation, of confusion, of loss and saddness, that I needed to get my worship on!!!! Thankfully I was in a room by myself and had this peaceful privacy, and as I sat on this hospital bed waiting for my husband and midwife to arrive, not knowing what the next few days would look like, I felt the Spirit of God whisper to me so gently- Now is the time to stand and worship. As if I felt like it. As if I wanted to, but I knew deep in my heart, just like it says in James 1, that in order to ‘not get thrown off course’, that I needed, I needed-needed, to stand and worship… and boy did I ever.
Its so amazing that God knows what we need, before we even need it. I had recently made a playlist on my phone of songs like ‘It is Well With my Soul’ and ‘I am Not Alone’ and ‘Prince of Peace’ and ‘Here Now’. Songs that all refer to God’s presence being with us in a time of trial.
Its not that singing a few songs made everything easy- as the weekend progressed, I was admitted into the hospital and had to be induced and delivered a perfect, tiny little baby boy. Not the easiest weekend for us at all. But can I tell you… what God provided for us in that valley was peace and strength and hope and so much more. I sang as I cried, and I sang as I laboured- I sang through the pain. I sang these truths about Him and to Him. And God was right there. His word says that He is close to the broken hearted.
You see, God gives us these perfect gifts like the gift we have to worship. Not that you have to be ‘gifted’ to worship, like know how to sing or play the guitar with skill… Worship is way wayyyy more than music and ability. It's the state of our heart. Its a beneficial gift - something we get to do, that benefits our lives. It's a stance towards God that says He is always good, all the time. Its a tool that brings us life in our every day ups and downs. Its a gift to get to look towards Heaven and sing praises to our King! And when we do, what happens to us- in us- is so supernatural. We are shaped, changed, strengthened.
Because of this, I will always choose to be passionate in how I worship. After all, the bible is pretty clear about how we can express ourselves passionately while worshipping!
Psalm 134 says to ‘lift up holy hands and praise the Lord!’ and Psalm 98 says to 'shout for joy to the Lord all the earth… burst into jubilant song’. Hello!
I pray that my heart will always be willing to worship God, and to worship Him passionately. Through the valleys and the mountaintops, He promises that He is always with us, so why not worship Him?!!!
I’m so thankful for this great God that we get to serve!
Jenna Liesch
Relate Generation Pastor
