Don't forget ____.
It's your turn; I wonder what you'd fill in the blank. What would you write, one key element that keeps you going every day and gives you a reason to get out of bed every morning?
The Lord gives us different stories, and that's beautiful! It's one reason I write, I dream, but it also makes me wonder. If we sat for coffee and we shared one God-thing, what would it be?
Don't forget ____.
Write it down. Tuck it away somewhere (put it in the comments, and I'd be glad to read it!). And then I'll share mine too.
Maybe you can grab your coffee (extra cream in mine, please) and join me. Here's the God-thing He keeps telling me to remember. It's changing the way I see life, and it can change you too.
Every moment in life is worship.
... but it's your decision to make.
If you're like me, a day consists of a million things on your mind and to-do list, and few of them get done. *giggles* Sometimes I categorize days, wake up with my agenda, later write in my nightly journal about all I got done.
(horray - you get a peek into my personal schedule!)
- Mondays: dusting, cooking, pickleball with the family.
- Wednesdays: working, checking out customers, chats with strangers.
- Fridays: mowing, gardening, resting in the sunshine.
But life isn't about those. *points up* Maybe it's not about what I do at all but how, why I live it.
Last week, I was walking in a creek. Numb toes, rocks pebbly and scattered under the edges of wild honeysuckles of pink and white that I'd never seen before. I walked, tried to jump across the water, got soaked, stubbled bare toes against hard rocks.
But I stopped, paused, and let my mind take a picture.
A picture of spring-green trees and water forking three ways. Of a place away from city noises and traffic and schedules.
I saw a place God is.
He's there, God of the quiet moss and sandy shores. He's a God of peace and rest, of solitude and nature.
There, the world worshipped. And I joined it.
Logs bowed their heads before their Creator. Salamanders hid in crags and lived the life He set before them. Birds sang His praises. Water danced at His bidding.
And there were us. A few adults, a lot of kids, and we walked in a line back up the hill, exhausted and hot. Yet we weren't just people. We were beings created in His holy image. We were souls righteous in His sight that would live forever in His Kingdom. We laughed and ate and played, and it was worship somehow. It reminds me of the New Earth.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Today, here I sit, wind whipping my ponytail and flustering the deep-violet petunias on our front porch to make their perfume fly around me. A cow calls, I remember that I need to start dinner, and I forget again because I watch a trail of ants that somehow keep finding our hummingbird feeder. But I sit, embrace this moment because this too is worship.
That worship drew my eyes more to Jesus and less to me. It breaks self to make room for joy to bubble through. And I sing in the melody another author wrote so well,
Over the gateway of Self is a sign that says, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter." It is a hellish, helpless place. Die to self. Live to God. Let your words and music be more beautiful by their death int he soil of worship, that the husk of your own imperfection might fall away and germinate into some bright, eternal song only God could have written.
- Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson
Worship: Every single moment. The God of shalom at the creekside is the same God as you finish finals and prepare for graduation and summer. The God beside you as you lay in bed at night is the same God who is with you at work, when you're stressed, when you praise Him with songs on Sunday mornings.
God is. He is. And that doesn't change.
Joy doesn't come from fulfilling your to-do list. It comes from a different perspective (Romans 12:2). A different goal in life. It starts with worship, and it's a gift from God. That's what changes the world:
Like David. And Ruth. Jesus.
Their lives were humble worship to the Father.
So Friend, don't forget:
Life is a continual worship.
I challenge you to stop, take a moment, and let your mind remember. Where you are at this single moment, this can be worship. Where you are in three hours can be worship too. Even if it's hard.
Creation is continually singing praise. Every star shining, every windy breeze, it's declaring that He is God and there is none like Him!
Yet He desires you. Me. He wants our hearts, to love and be loved, to be intimate with us. He wants us, created in His image, to be transformed to look, live, touch, speak like Him. Can you imagine God Himself longing for you?! Loving you?!
So there you go. If your coffee is gone, we might hug and part ways. (or get a second cup *wink*) But this is what I'm not going to forget: every moment in life is worship.
That's where my joy comes from! It's where I am most fulfilled, most satisfied - when I let Him be the focus, not me. When I turn my eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.
It draws me to prayer, to reading His Word, to rejoicing in Him. And I'm still learning, still praying, Lord, please create a heart of worship in me.
It's your turn!
What's your biggest go-do, that one thing God reminds you of over and over to not forget?
And what does life look like at this moment, as you sit on a phone, a computer, a tablet, and how can you pause and turn it to worship like the psalmists?
Let's chat in the comments!
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you is it safe... rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
~♥~
Thank you so much for this post, Hosanna! Really needed to hear this! <3 <3 <3
ReplyDelete*hugs* Thank you, Molly Anne! That really blesses me. ♥
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