How To Worship When You Are Wounded
The word our Pastor had for us today was important to our overall walk with the Lord, and given in a way that makes it easy to apply the principles of God to our lives personally.
First, he gave four examples of types of worship:
Ignorant worship: Acts 17:22-31
Vain worship: Matthew 15:7-9
Will worship: Colossians 2:23
True worship: John 4:23-24
Then, he talked a little about how it comes easier to worship God when our heart is busting with joy, than it is when it is breaking from pain. There are four emotions we feel when we are wounded; anger, shock, grief, and fear. If we don't talk about these feelings with God, they will manifest someway... somewhere. (I thought this would be a good time to talk about how we often bring stress/emotion related health conditions on ourselves when we don't go to God with our hurts, and though he did mention it... he was headed somewhere else and had a limited amount of time to get there.) So, if we are going to go to God with the negative stuff that happens in life we will need to be... and want to be:
...honest with God. Believe Him enough to confide in Him.
...honoring God. Praise God in spite of our circumstances. Find things to thank Him for.
...keying in on the strength and wisdom of God. Going elsewhere won't give us the real help and answers we need.
... keeping on. Never stop believing God for your help.
With those principles in mind he brought his message back full circle. Unless we are truly worshipping God, not worshipping a God we don't even know, or just giving lip service without giving our heart, or doing it in our own strength, we won't be able to successfully be honest with God, honor Him, key in on His strength and wisdom, and therefore we won't have the perseverance for victory.
So, this week I am focusing on what true worship is. Of one thing I am certain.. if it is real, authentic, true worship, it's going to be a lifestyle.
After church, we went out to eat. That was a treat. And then, it was on to Menard's for lumber, small border fence (otherwise Baxter will confuse the garden for a digging playground), peat moss and top soil. The result of that little trip is pictured above. The picture was taken the following morning because we finished about 15 minutes after the sun went down. But... nonetheless... it is now a 5'X20' deep bed for my garden this year. 100 beautiful square feet of perfectly prepared dirt just waiting for the last threat of frost so that I can infuse it with veggie life!!!
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