Worship Continued...

Today, I feel like I need to extend the focus on worship from the Worship Wednesday post. I have actually made some additions to the original post, because I had a few more thoughts that I didn't fully express yesterday. So, if you have time, I encourage you to go back and read the post again.

**Chasing a rabbit here**

If there is one thing that you will learn about me from this blog, it will be that I am a terrible perfectionist!

I can not stand to feel like I did not express my thoughts completely or that I left something unclear.

 (and I absolutely hate to think that I have left typos or spelling/grammar errors...UGGH!)

**Back to the point**

As I was posting yesterday, I realized just how important worship is to my spiritual well being. I also realized that I have been suffering from a severe overload of responsibilities that has left me with little time for worship. This has in turn decreased my endurance.

How can we survive under such pressure if we have not had regular fellowship with the Father?

Listen to part of Jonah's prayer to God during the overwhelming mess he had made for himself by running from the Lord and falling out of fellowship with Him:

 ⁷ As my life was slipping away,
      I remembered the Lord.   And my earnest prayer went out to you
      in your holy Temple.
 ⁸ Those who worship false gods
      turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
 ⁹ But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
      and I will fulfill all my vows.
      For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

¹⁰ Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

Jonah 2:7-10 NLT

Jonah called out seeking restored fellowship with the Lord, and the Lord answered him! Jonah offered a sacrifice of praise. In other words, he praised the Lord even though he probably didn't feel like it.

Jonah's mess was a self-made mess because of his disobedience, and many times, we find ourselves in that same situation. However, sometimes, we are doing all the right things, yet we suffer and feel as if the Lord is drifting farther away. It is then that we must still offer a sacrifice of praise to the Lord as Paul did in a jail cell after being arrested for speaking the truth.

²⁵ Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. ²⁶ Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!

Acts 16:25-26 NLT

What an example they set! That is true sacrificial praise! Unlike Jonah, Paul and Silas were enduring hardships because of their dedication to the Gospel, but we see that all of them received freedom from there oppression as a result of their choice to worship the Lord during their trials!

Listen to the song, "I Run to You" that my brother and his girlfriend recorded this cover of:

( I'm so proud of my little brother, but I have to admit that I am a bit envious of some of the great opportunities that he has had to minister.)

Paul and Silas ran straight to the Lord when their circumstances started spinning out of control! I want my first reaction to be like theirs...singing unto the Lord with a grateful heart! However, I am afraid that many times I am more like Jonah...I contribute to my own mess and then run further away from God as I seek to fix the situation my way. Sometimes, we may have to wait awhile for God to step in and free us from the circumstances we are in, but Jonah's way will always be the long way to freedom for us! We can at least experience peace, the freedom of the spirit, by running to God at the first sign of trouble!

 ¹ O God, listen to my cry!
      Hear my prayer!
 ² From the ends of the earth,
      I cry to you for help
      when my heart is overwhelmed.   Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
    ³ for you are my safe refuge,
      a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.

Psalm 61:1-3 NLT




Photo by King's Queen
Original post: Artist of the Soul: Be Still

 

When we are overwhelmed, stressed out, and moving at the speed of this world, the only way to experience some freedom is to drop what we are doing, slow down, and sit at the Lord's feet in worship, absorbing all that He is and all that He says!

Lately, all I have had within me to give is a sacrifice of praise! I really haven't felt His Spirit very much in the midst of this wilderness of oligations. However, I try to remember that, as a follower of Christ, I am called to carry the cross, and that means that times of struggle are to be expected. You and I both will have these desert experiences. We will cry out like Christ in the garden saying, "Please take this cup of suffering away from me!" However, we must also learn to say, "Father, let Your will be done, not mine...You are worth the sacrifice because you saw me as worthy of Your sacrifice, even though I am not!"

To get a little better picture of this sacrifice, read this conversation that I posted to my other blog a few months ago:

Artist of the Soul: A Chat with My Brother

Then listen to this "Worship Song of the Day"