Worship

Worship is a weapon. Did you know that? I hadn’t really seen it as such until recently. 

The choice to worship in the midst of our struggle is a weapon - a tool to be used as we wait on the Lord to move, to act, and to work miracles on our behalf. It is what to do when we do not know what to do.

Those times in life are dark, they are painful, they are lonely. When anxiety settles in, when fear overwhelms, when loneliness becomes unbearable - our praise is a weapon. It is a lifeline when all around us is falling apart.

It is like a light in the dark. Our praise in the darkness of our lives, in the waiting, in the struggle, in the loneliness, in the sorrow, in the suffering - our praise is like lighting a candle in a dark, damp, cold cave. It is a reminder that God Almighty is greater than whatever it is we are suffering through. 

He is greater than our anxiety, greater than our stress, greater than our loss, greater than our loneliness, greater than our pain, greater than our struggle. He is I AM. And at the very mention of Jesus' Name the enemy must flee. And he does. Scripture tells us that even the demons tremble at the name of Jesus. Even the demons know who God is. So our worship is a weapon.

Worship.

It’s like an invitation saying “God, I know this place You have me in is dark and lonely. And, honestly, I need a miracle if I’m ever going to get out of here. But You are I AM, so I’m going to worship You right here, right now. Because that’s what You deserve and that’s what my life is about – You.”

And then you worship. 

You whisper a hymn, a word, a song – and your eyes open wider and you know He is there. And suddenly, that crushing weight, that dark cloud - oh it’s still there - but suddenly your focus has shifted, your eyes have lifted, the atmosphere is changing. Like the flicker of a candle's flame illuminates a dark, cold, damp cave...you realize...

I AM.

Is.

Here.

And that miracle you’ve been begging God for, that one thing that needs to happen to get you out of this place – it hasn’t happened but a miracle has happened. Because you’ve survived. You made it through the night, the day, the week, the month. And the things you thought you just couldn’t go on and do you are doing. The miracle isn’t that God took away your suffering – the miracle is that He has sustained you through it.The miracle isn't that He has finally answered all your prayers just the way you wanted. It is that you've been hanging by a thread and He miraculously caught you. The miracle isn't the vanishing of suffering it is the sudden appearing of the Almighty God in a dark and terrible place. The miracle is that I AM is with you. I AM has sustained you. I AM has held you. I AM has waited with you. I AM has wiped your tears. I AM has held your hand through it all. 

That is the miracle.

But you don't realize it until you worship. You don't notice unless you worship. It isn't until your eyes are peeled away from the darkness around you that you notice He is there with you, waiting patiently with you, comforting, sustaining - being I AM for you. 

It is still dark. It is still lonely. The storm rages. The end isn't even in view. You still need a miracle to bring you out of this place - but while you are in this place you have a weapon - you have a duty - you have a purpose.

Worship.

Invite God in. Lean closer. Look up.

Worship is our weapon, it is our defense against all that comes to steal our joy. It is how we proclaim God as I AM and surrender.

Worship is a declaration, the war cry of God's people, that He is I AM. And it is I AM who has stretched out His mighty arms to us and offered His steadfast, enduring love to comfort and support us.

Our worship invites Him into the darkest places of our lives so that He can breathe His life into us and find hope again in Him!

"By day the Lord commands His steadfast love and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life...Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my Salvation and my God." 
Psalm 42:8 & 11

***this post was written after listening to a message by Louie Giglio titled, "I Lift My Hands," as well as the result of dealing with my own battles with anxiety, loss, and loneliness - through which the Holy Spirit has taught me to worship***

You're Still More Than I Need

I'm sitting in my quiet, slightly freezing apartment wasting away my free Tuesday night, iPod on shuffle, listening to Shane & Shane and this line hits me...

"You're still more than I need...You're enough for me"

He is just that. He is enough. In fact, He is more than enough. And what He has to offer me is more than I need. 

Do you believe this, or are you just singing along with Shane & Shane? Sometimes, I feel like I'm just singing along. I mean, who doesn't love a good worship song, and it's hard to beat Shane & Shane?!? But I so easily forget that my perfect Heavenly Father is not just enough - He is more than enough. He is not only aware of my needs, He is able to meet my needs above and beyond what I could have ever dreamed - because He is more than I need. 

That is what He is - He is enough. 

This is an amazing thought and there is an incredible about of peace to be found in this truth. The past several weeks the Lord has had me on this crazy journey where every day (I'm not kidding, every day!) He has been proving to me over and over again that He is so much more than I need, how He has all details of my life worked out, how I can rest in Him, how I can trust Him to provide, and how capable He is of taking care of me - beyond what I could imagine!

I was having a moment at work today. I may be the only one who has them, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the amount of work I need to get done I become completely paralyzed. I'm not kidding. My brain begins to shut down and I begin to have thoughts about pajama days and sleeping in until noon (I don't know why sleep is always my default defense in times of stress.) Anyway, I was having one of these moments where my eyeballs had begun to glaze over and my little brain kicked in to overdrive going through all the things that needed to be done, the things that I wanted to do, and all the ways both of these things could go terribly wrong. I felt myself crumbling...

So I reached in to my purse and pulled out my bible and read Psalm 57, in particular these verses 1-2 & 10.

"...for in You my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me...for Your steadfast love is great to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds." 

These words are powerful. I read this and I am suddenly taken to a place where I am safe, protected, sheltered, and loved. His love is great, higher than the heavens. His faithfulness, so abundant it reaches to the clouds. This is my God. This is the God who is enough. This is the God I cry to. This is the God who hears me. This is the God worthy of my trust. This is the God who is carefully fulfilling His purpose for me, who has a plan, who knows my heart, and is perfectly capable of meeting my every need because He is more than I need, He is enough. 

***If you want to hear the song I was listening to*** 

You're Enough For Me

Enough. It has been a theme lately. Every time I open my bible, every time I begin to pray, listening to sermons, talking to friends... I'm talking crazy things like randomly listening to a sermon online and having this concept pounded into my head for 45 minutes straight, then listening to my iTunes library on shuffle and hearing a million songs in a row (okay, not a million) with some lyric involving the idea that He is enough for me. Then opening my bible and finding the same message in my reading...over and over...all week. It is as if He has me by the shoulders and is pleeding with me, "I'm enough for you, believe me!" I don't always believe Him. I don't always live my life as though He really is enough for me. But He is. He has been enough on my darkest days, in my lowst moments, He has been enough in the sunshine, in the happy, and during the good. There is no reason to think that He won't be enough today, or tomorrow, or the next day. It would be foolish to doubt His goodness or to think that it could run out or fall short. He is enough and can be nothing less!