Jesus is STILL Lord

I woke up with this song in my head after a VERY difficult and exhausting couple of days.  They were days spent questioning, worrying, crying, yelling, wondering, pouting, and finally surrendering.  Apparently, my heart decided there was no other response to God after all this, but to sing the following song:

 

The heavens declare

I have always had a great love for the sky.  I’m fascinated by clouds – I could lay in a field on a summer afternoon and watch them float by for hours.  For me, there’s no better way to end a hot, humid summer day than with an approaching thunderstorm.  A deep orange and purple sunset never fails to bring tears to my eyes.  Every clear evening in the summer, I sit out on the deck and stare up at the night sky looking for satellites and shooting stars.  I’ve been known to pull over on a dark road, open the sunroof and just look up at the layers and layers of stars, allowing my eyes to adjust so I can see more of them.  One of my favorite places on earth is somewhere I’ve only been once, but I crave being there the way my mom craves being at Cape May because it’s the place where I got to see Saturn’s rings for the first time.  I remember nights my dad and I would take his telescope out into the back yard to look at Mars, Venus and the moon (I think I get my love of the sky and weather from him).

There’s a song I anticipate singing a lot this summer* that so perfectly ties my love for all things celestial with my love for Jesus:

 

What sets your soul free to worship?  What’s your favorite part of God’s creation?

* If you’re in Western Mass/CT, stop by Bethlehem Baptist Church in Hampden, MA at 7PM on June 6th for the kick off of another fantastic summer of The Awakening.  If you’re not in the area, please pray that God would be glorified and that He would bring revival to New England!

 

My heart cries out in worship

My mom and I have always joked around about how easily we cry.  (Just for the record, she cries way more easily than I do.)  I’m not talking about the crying we do when we’re sad or angry, I’m talking about general weepiness that occurs in every day life.  Rainbows make us cry.  Just about every card we give each other for every occasion makes us cry.  Most recently, an eagle made my mom cry.  We used to joke about crying at dog food commercials (except for that one time when it wasn’t a joke).  It’s really a little pathetic sometimes, but that’s just the sensitive hearts God gave us, right?  (I’ve asked God to make me more stoic.  I’ve told him how annoying it is to have mascara running down my face in the middle of Hallmark.  But He has chosen not to give me an affirmative answer on that particular prayer.  What’s a girl to do?)

If there is one thing that is absolutely guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat, it’s this:

There are a couple of things about this video that choke me up every time I watch it.  The first, of course, is the song itself – what an incredible act of worship!  The second is this: There is nothing more beautiful to me than seeing kids worship their Creator.  

I teach high school Sunday school and a couple of ”my” kids serve on worship teams at the church.  These two guys are so fun for me to watch as they play because both of them just get so into it.  Their passion for the Lord is evident in their lives (this world is going to be a better place because these two young men are in it) and when they’re playing with the band, they worship with their whole bodies.  And there was a week I was visiting my parents’ church.  Two little girls (9 or 10 years old) were sitting toward the front of the church singing their little hearts out.  I love it!

I wonder, if I get such incredible joy out of watching kids worship God, how much more joy does He feel?  Jesus used children as examples of the humility and simple, uncomplicated faith we’re called to have.   Kids are so passionate about everything they do (well, except for maybe homework and chores).  They get so excited about the Jonas Brothers and soccer and amusement parks.  And if they are nurtured and encouraged, they get so excited about Jesus.     

I see two things here that I need to put into practice in my life: 1) I need to be more like a child in my worship – I need to stop worrying about what’s going on around me or who I’m sitting next to and I need to worship at my Father’s feet with humility and uninhibited passion for who He is and what He has done in my life; and 2) I need to do everything I can to pour the love of Jesus into the kids around me and to encourage in them a passion for their Savior.

What about you?  What makes you cry tears of joy?  What are you praising God for today?