I gotta say the past few weeks have been…something else to say the least. I've noticed this amongst my circle as well…There's been heaviness, let downs, discouragement--what have you! It gets hard to worship from a place like that. A few Sundays ago, I found myself in that place. And being a worship leader, it's our responsibility to lead the congregation into the presence of the Lord. But when stuff is hard, when things are heavy, it's difficult to get a praise in for yourself, let alone for a church! There was something powerful that took place that day. I felt the Lord prompting me to pick songs that were shifted to focus on Him. His goodness, His power, His glory, and something shifted. The more the focus turned to God, the heaviness lifted, the atmosphere in the room changed and the glory of God shined through!
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is in 2 Chronicles 20. There was a righteous king named Jehoshaphat who ruled over the land of Judah. But they were faced with an overwhelming situation. Three different armies, three different kingdoms have come against them. Jehoshaphat's response was to run to the Lord, remind Him of His Word, His promises, and bring the problem before Him. God's response was to send a prophet to encourage the king and his people, that God would fight the battle and receive the victory. The day they went to battle, Jehoshaphat sent the priests and musicians before the army and the led them in worship. They worshipped God and God caused the 3 armies to fight each other.
When we choose to worship God, when things are unknown, when things are hard, when things are beyond our control, it is an act faith and trust in Him. It moves our focus from the trials to the One who can turn those very trials around. Mind you, we don't worship Him just to see situations change, we worship Him for who He is; whether the situations change or not. But as we worship, we'll not only see change in our perspective, but also change in all that's going on around us and allows God to step in to things we can't handle on our own.
So don't stop praising, don't stop worshipping God.
Psalm 34:1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, His shall continually be in my mouth.”
