Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:1-3 (NLT)
It is amazing the avenues that God chooses to speak to my heart. He will catch me completely off-guard. I have been deliberate enough to avoid situations where I may feel convicted about something because I do not want to have to deal with an issue. He never falls for it. I can never outsmart Him.
I was sitting in church recently when one of the children’s choirs sang in the morning service. My mind was wandering to the roast beef I had cooked before we left the house that morning. “I wonder if I should have covered the roasting pan or not. I hope that the meat won’t be dried out! And I hope the potatoes won’t be too well-done. They are supposed to be crispy!”
In the middle of my mind-wandering, my ears perked up to one voice that was a full step behind all the others. My eyes began searching the two rows of children in front of me singing with all their might. I could not make out where the off-key voice was coming from. During the second verse, I realized that the young girl with special needs was the singer I could hear above all the rest.
She was making a joyful noise unto the Lord. Did it sound like the other voices that blended together? No. But it was distinct and beautiful because the Holy Spirit was being used to speak to my soul through the dissonant notes from that young mouth. I watched through eyes filled with tears.
Oh, Jesus, I prayed silently, let me be like her. She has no self-consciousness about her offering. I strive so hard to be perfect, not realizing that when I do that, my offering becomes full of me, instead of full of You. You don’t ask me to have it all together, but You do ask me to sing for Your glory. I am too self-absorbed with worry about what I sound like. I am too embarrassed, Lord. There are others who are far more talented, have better voices than I do, and I don’t want to stand out!
What would happen, sweet sisters, if we would stop worrying about what others thought of our praise? What if I could radically love Christ in front of others? What would happen if I stopped worrying about being thought of as a fanatic and lavished my worship on Him? I think God could use me in ways He’s never been able to because that would be a perfect offering in His sight.
Jesus, eternity is going to sing Your praises. I am going to find my fulfillment in the total worship of my King one day. Let me praise You as though I am there already. Let me bow before You now so that when I bow at Your feet one day, it will be a familiar posture.
