Say What??

When you attend most any church, what is one of the first things that the service always begins with? Music, or a “time of worship”.  I’m sure most people know that there are other ways to worship God, but it seems that music is one of the fastest ways we as humans are able to connect and focus in on God. 

Music is powerful, so it just makes sense to start a church service with music.  Lately though, God has really been working in my heart during those times (at church and at home). Worship for me is a big deal.  It’s a time when I can tune out the rest of the world, and solely focus on my creator – what He wants to say to me, and sometimes, what I need to say to Him.  I take the words to the songs very seriously.  I don’t sing words that I don’t mean…afterall, I use those words to bring me into a conversation with the almighty God.  So, lately I have been really focusing on the words to a few songs, and then I wondered….are other people around me really thinking about what we are singing??  Or are these just catchy songs that stir up different emotions that everyone is just singing together? Here are 3 songs that have really hit me lately with some truth. I’m just going to write some of the lyrics that have really played a part in snapping me into reality:

The first one is – Pursuit:

When we sing those lyrics, do we really understand what we are asking God to do??  We are asking Him to strip EVERYTHING away, until all we have is HIM.  Do you know how painful that process could be?  Where that could lead us? What things or people we might have to purge from our life? That is a big and BOLD thing to ask God to do in us.  Do we REALLY want Him to strip EVERYTHING away that is standing in the way of HIS will for our lives?

And then there is - Oceans:

It says “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me.”

What does it mean to trust without borders??  To me, it would mean that I would have to step out into the unknown, into a place that I have no control of myself, into a place or situation that would cause me to cling ONLY to my God. And that I might be asked to do things that I’m quite frankly uncomfortable with!  “Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander; and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.” Do we really want God to take us deeper than our feet could ever wander on our own, knowing that it will test our faith in the process?? 

The last song is “All I need is You”.  That is really all that song says, repeatedly, over and over.  IS God ALL we really NEED??  Have we gotten to the point as a church where we know this to be true?  That no matter what circumstances come our way, no matter how hard life gets, no matter what “bad” comes our way, we know that ALL we need is Him. 

I can honestly say that I have gotten to a place in my own personal relationship with Jesus, that I CAN now sing each of these songs and mean what I’m singing with everything that I am.  I still struggle at times with asking Him to strip everything away that might be preventing His will for my life; but I just keep giving him my fears and concerns, knowing that He is bringing me through a teaching process.  And I am finding that in the surrender it gets easier and easier to rely on Him. The reason that I can sing these lyrics now and know that I mean them is because my God has proven Himself to be faithful to me over and over AND over again.  He has never left me. And I can say with confidence that I know He never will.  Even if I were to lose my entire family, or everything that I owed…I know that God is still on His throne, and still loving me through it all. 

My challenge to whoever reads this would be to really think about the words of the songs you sing.  Music is powerful and so are the words we speak and sing.  Ask God to reveal Himself to you in a whole new way.  Don’t be afraid to worship Him in whatever way you feel.  If you need to put your hands up, do it.  If you need to get on your knees, do it.  If you need to stand in silence, do it.  We are free to worship in whatever way we want, and I encourage you to do just that – to connect to your creator, perhaps in a way you never have.  And be honest with yourself and Him (He already knows your thoughts anyway). He is always there, with arms wide open.  We just have to run into them.