Worship is interesting, isn’t it? I’ve been leading worship with a band since I was in 8th grade. In one for or another I’ve been in front of people singing songs to God and helping people sing along. My vocation since 2006 has in one way or another also been tied to leading worship.
I love leading worship. I love it. Love it. Love. It.
However, as much as I love it, I think at some point along the way I began to take it for granted. I forgot how to worship. I got really good creating worship environments and leading people to worship God. I got so good at leading people that I forgot how to worship God on my own.
[Tweet “I got so good at leading people that I forgot how to worship God on my own. @theMICAHANDREW #Worship”]
I don’t believe that worship is tied to singing. I love Louie Giglio’s definition of worship in his book The Air I Breathe. He says that “worship is our response to God, both person and corporate, for who He is and what He has done – expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.” I love that thought, but I had lost it. I needed a freshness in my worship. I needed renewal.
[Tweet “Worship is our response to God for who He is and what He has done. @LouieGiglio #TheAirIBreathe”]
The last 6 months have led me to a place of growth in and sacrifice in that I felt God leading me on a new journey. I took a new role at my church and it has me rarely leading worship. I was forced to relearn what it meant to get alone with God. I had to figure out what it was like to sing a song to God. Not to lead people in singing a song, but to really sing to Him. To sing to Him because I meant it. To sing to God because I needed Him to know I believed it.
Tonight I went to see Elevation Worship in concert. They led the room in worship of God. The songs were all ones that I knew. They were songs that I led. I was excited to see them and have been anticipating it for some time now. Tonight I truly relearned how to worship. Yet, to had nothing to do with Elevation Worship. Truthfully it didn’t even have much to do with singing. The best part about tonight was that my family was with me.
My beautiful wife and daughters had earplugs packed into their ears. My youngest, not even a year old, was in her mothers arms laughing and giggling at the music and at her mom. My 3 year old was in my arms with her head on my shoulder. I watched as she slowly raised a hand in air mimicking those she saw around her. She spied my smile and quickly put it down. She chuckled and dug her head closer into my chest. She clapped at the end of the song. As the band sang “Unstoppable God, let Your glory go on and on. Impossible things in Your name they shall be done.” I was looking at the smiles of my daughters and wife and a simple, quiet, but true “Thank you.” escaped my lips. The glory of and unstoppable God has been seen through how He has blessed my family over the last year. It has been one of the hardest we have faced, but I have seen the impossible done through the power of Jesus. The glory of God goes on and on in the smiles and joy of my girls. I’m a blessed man.
[Tweet “#UnstoppableGod, let Your glory go on and on. Impossible things in Your name they shall be done! @Elevation_Wrsp”]
[Tweet “The glory of God goes on and on in the smiles and joy of my girls. I’m a blessed man. @theMICAHANDREW #Worship #Family”]
I learned once again how to worship God again tonight. I didn’t find God because of the perfect mix of video and song, not because of the right scripture passage shown on screen, not because of the experience created by a band. I learned to worship again in the most unexpected, but beautiful way. My daughter’s name means “a song to the Lord” – and it was in her smile that God brought my heart back to Him.
Take the time to look for God in the whispers.
[Tweet “Take the time to look for God in the whispers. @theMICAHANDREW #Worship #God #Theology”]
Related Posts About Worship:
- Thom Rainer: The Intersection of Theology and Worship
- The Gospel Coalition: What is Worship?
- Worship.com: What is Worship?
