Don’t surrender your worship

 

Don’t surrender your worship. What do I even mean by this statement?

There are a lot of confusing and difficult things going on in our world today, and there are a lot of hard things happening closer to home at this present moment.

Life is never void of trials and trouble. We are reminded of this in John 16:33 - These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

In a sermon I listened to yesterday, I heard the story once again of the three Hebrew boys who made a stand against an egotistical King and chose to worship God. (Daniel 3)

The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is such an amazing display of God’s almighty power, but it also shines the spotlight on three boys who refused to surrender their worship.

Before I get to that, let me just take a moment to speak about the choice they made when it came to their focus.

When these boys made the decision to disobey the King’s decree and refused to bow down to his golden image, their focus wasn’t on the fiery furnace. Their focus was on God.

How often do we find ourselves focusing on the trials in our lives? How often do we zero in on the circumstances we find ourselves in? How often do we speak of the giant instead of speaking of our God?

Do you remember the story of David and his face off with a giant? Read it for yourself and you’ll find that David himself never acknowledged how big Goliath was, he only ever acknowledged how big his God was! (1 Samuel 17)     (Talk faith not fear)

He didn’t talk about how dangerous or how large or how impressive, threatening or scary Goliath was? He only talked about how great his God was.

He knew the truth that his God, our God, is able to deliver us!

Yes, life gets hard. The unexpected happens.

We have a choice to make. We can’t choose what battles we face. We can’t choose the trials we go through, but we can choose what we focus on!

Both David and the Hebrew boys didn’t keep their focus on the mountain. They chose to focus on the one who spoke the mountain into existence. God.

Now, let’s come back to my opening statement.

Don’t surrender your worship!

In the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image, the three Hebrew boys refused to surrender their worship.

When it came to a choice between God or the King, they chose God. They chose to believe and worship.

Daniel 3:16-18 KJV - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego took their focus off the fiery furnace (mountain) and looked to God. They decided to worship before the miracle even took place and even more astounding, they didn’t even know if a miracle would take place.

They didn’t have a rock-solid guarantee that God would choose to rescue them from danger, but they knew that their worship of him and their trust in him was paramount.

These verses tell us that they were so sure of their God that even if he chose to let them perish in the fire, they would still worship. They would go down worshipping. They would go down singing his praises.

They would not surrender their worship!

Sometimes, as Christians, we worship because we see a miracle. God works, we witness a miracle, we see the circumstances change and we rise up in worship.

But it takes a lot more courage to worship before we see the miracle. It takes strength to sit in the midst of a trial and choose to worship through it.

For those of you who know me and my story, you may be tired of hearing it, but I will never stop telling it. It is my glory story.  (Do you have a glory story)

For those who don’t, here is a very brief mention of it so I can drive home my point.

A few years back I faced a giant. For 6 long months I fought an internal battle. An unexplained battle with depression, anxiety and panic attacks that literally took my breath away, threatening to take me out completely. It had made itself at home and nothing I could do seemed to shake it.

But while I was being pounded by waves of fear, while I struggled through days where I didn’t want to get out of bed, while I neglected friendships and often tried to put on a brave face hoping others wouldn’t notice, God was working. God was weaving threads of strength through my pain.

As I battled along, I made the choice to worship. I chose to worship through it. I chose to worship before I saw a miracle. I tell this not to bring any glory to myself, but to hold the Lord’s name high.

My first timid attempt at worship was through music. I listened over and over to worship songs that spoke peace to my heart. As the days went by, my lips mouthed the words and then those words made their way down into my heart and my spirits began to lift. Then I read through promise after promise in the Word of God and my worship spilled over into reading aloud and letting God’s love and goodness wash over me.

Long story short, God in his mercy and grace pulled me up out of a dark pit and set my feet upon a rock and helped me to walk again. (Psalm 40:2)

When the three Hebrew boys chose to worship God through their trial, and when they chose to focus on God’s power, you’d better believe that it changed them!

I am absolutely positive that they came out of that fire with a fire burning inside them that was all to do with God and nothing to do with hot flames. It changed them.

And I want to encourage you if you’re walking through something right now, your choice to worship will not only change you, it will help to change others.

YOUR FIGHT ISN’T JUST ABOUT YOU!

You never know who’s watching. You never know who you will affect by your worship.

Do you remember what happened after the King called the boys out of the fire, having seen 4 men walking in the fire? He was changed.

Daniel 3:28-29 KJV - Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

King Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged not only the existence of God but also the Almighty, power of God.

When you choose to worship through a trial, with no idea how it will turn out, not only is it pleasing to God, but it is encouraging to those looking on.

You can encourage someone else’s faith. You can encourage another brother or sister who is faltering, to stay strong, to keep trusting, keep worshipping, keep believing.

Sometimes our faith is weak, and we have to borrow some off a friend. Sometimes we need to borrow some strength to be able to stand stronger. As we see another brother or sister standing strong and choosing to worship although they are facing an ‘even if’ situation, it gives our faith a lift and encourages us to keep in the race and persevere.

My story, your story, may be just what someone needs to see and hear to give them the courage to keep on.

When someone realises that they are not alone, and others have faced similar situations and God has brought them through, it gives them the strength they need to make it through and Lord willing, they will choose to refuse to surrender their worship.

God is worthy of all our worship and all our praise. Our stubborn refusal of surrendering our worship will be like a beacon to those looking on. A beacon of light. A beacon of hope.

1 Peter 3:15 KJV - But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Focus on God, not your mountain. Be ready with an answer and a voice of truth and hope for those looking on.

 

Don’t surrender your worship.

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee Cups and T Shirts

 

Here in Katherine, we have a lovely Christian bookshop run by volunteers. In it you’ll find countless Bibles and Bible covers, pens, notebooks, books on Christian living, commentaries, music, Children’s books and games etc etc and the most beautiful collection of giftware with scripture verses on them.

I have a lovely turquoise coffee mug with the phrase “Be still and know” written in a flowing font across the front. It is one of my favourite cups, not just because of its pleasant shape and size, but because it is a continual reminder each morning, of God’s goodness.

Last night, as we had our fortnightly Bible study in our home, I had a lady ask to read what was on my shirt. And lo and behold, there the phrase was again. Be still and know.

Just last week I was reminded of this verse and wanted to take some time to write about it as I have done in the past, but time got away from me and so, finally, here I sit, hoping for some peace and quiet and distraction-free time to share some insight on this beautiful verse.

We find this verse in the Psalms.

Psalm 46:10 KJV - Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

This verse comes from a longer section of Scripture that proclaims the power of God and the security we find in his presence.

In verses 1, 5, 7 and 11, the Psalmist reminds us of God’s presence. He is ‘present’. He is in the ‘midst’. He is ‘with us’.

As you read through this Psalm in its entirety, you’ll see that the majority of it is written in the third person as the Psalmist speaks about God. However, when we get to verse 10, God’s voice is heard, and he speaks in the first person.

Be still and know that I am God.

So, what is this being still? Being still is not something I’m very good at. I have worked on it over the years, and I’ve come a long way from where I started in this area, but it still doesn’t come naturally to me. I don’t have any trouble being busy, crowding my days with activities and the like, but being still? Not so easy.

In this verse, God calls us to stillness.

”The word used here in the Hebrew - rapa - means properly to cast down; to let fall; to let hang down; then, to be relaxed, slackened, especially the hands: It is also employed in the sense of not making an effort; not putting forth exertion; and then would express the idea of leaving matters with God, or of being without anxiety about the issue.” Barnes.

So being still here carries the idea of being quiet and easy, not fretful and impatient or restless, content to relax into the will of God. It doesn’t mean to be inactive and unconcerned, but quiet. A quietening of the heart.

We find this phrase ‘be still’ in another place in the Bible that is worth mentioning.

Mark 4:39 KJV - And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

The difference here though is that in the Greek, these words, be still, mean to be silent or be dumb. So, in essence, hush or shut up. The Lord told the waves and wind to shut up! And I think sometimes, we need to just hush and be silent and listen.

We fill our lives with so much ‘doing’ and not a lot of ‘listening’. We dart from one task to the next, always on the move, never resting, never stopping to catch our breath. But God requires us to come into His presence and just be still. To quieten our minds and our bodies and listen as he speaks to us.  

As I have thought on this verse, this phrase is continually on my mind in light of recent circumstances. As our daughter battles with cancer a second time, and lives with the unknown looming so large over her, I am reminded to be still and know.

Cancer is horrible. It is a ravaging destroyer. It is full of unknowns. Only God can bring peace and a supernatural rest in Him during a time that might otherwise be devastating. Only God can say, be still and know, and have the power and authority to back it up by his faithfulness and love so that we can fully trust that he holds life and death in his hands and only God can enable us to rest in the assurance that his ways are perfect. (Psalm 18:30)

God is not the God of chaos and confusion, but of calm. God is not the God of stress and anxiety, but of rest.

God knew all about what our daughter would go through, long before I ever carried her in my womb. (Psalm 139). He held her hand, long before I ever did.

God calls us to be still. To rest. To trust. To lie content in his will.

But there is something more than just stillness in this verse. We are told not only to be still, but also to know.

What are we to know? To know that He is God.

As one commentator puts it:

“And "know"; own and acknowledge that he is God, a sovereign being that does whatsoever he pleases; that he is unchangeable in his nature, purposes, promises, and covenant; that he is omnipotent, able to help them and deliver them at the last extremity; that he is omniscient, knows their persons, cases, and troubles, and how and where to hide them till the storm is over; that he is the all wise God, and does all things after the counsel of his own will, and makes all things work together for good to them; and that he is faithful to his word and promise, and will not suffer them to be over pressed and bore down with troubles.” Gill

We are not just to learn to be still, but we are to know who God is. The more you know God, the easier you will find it to trust in him.

During this time of trial in our daughter’s life and in the lives of those that love and care for her, it can be hard to be still and know. We want to rush about trying to find solutions and we continually cry out to God searching for answers. But his still, small voice whispers to our hearts, “be still, my child”. Rest in me.

So, what do you do when your life begins to crumble, and you can’t make sense of the path God calls you to follow?

You hold on to what you know.

I have said it before, and I’ll say it again. One of my favourite quotes is this:

“Don’t doubt in the dark, what you know in the light”

During those times when life doesn’t make sense, you have to lean in to what you know of God. He is good. He is loving. He is merciful. He is compassionate.

He is the same whether the sun is shining or the storm clouds form.

Let me give you three things to think on if you’re going through something right now and need a word of hope and comfort.

1.        God is faithful. No matter what is going on in our lives, no matter the circumstances, or the crumbling plans beneath our feet, God is still faithful. He is steady. He is stable. He is our rock. (Psalm 18:31) His compassion and mercy never fails. (Lamentations 3:22,23)

2.        God’s peace and his presence are real. Even when we have no explanation for what is happening, even when life doesn’t make sense, we can rest in the promise that God is with us and will never leave us. (Hebrews 13:5) And we can enjoy his peace. The peace that is beyond our human comprehension (Philippians 4:7)

3.        The body of Christ is and should be beautiful. The gift of community amongst believers is a precious thing and something we should work on developing. As a body of Christ followers and image bearers, we are called to service to one another. We are called to love and compassion. (John 13:34,35)

One of my greatest comforts as a mother watching, from afar, our oldest child go through such a scary, difficult season, is the love of the people around her. She is surrounded on every side not only by flesh and blood family, but also by the family of God. Her brothers and sisters in Christ who love and care for her.

I can rest in the promise that as I obey God’s call to be still and know, he will give me peace that passes understanding. He will be my refuge and strength. Though the earth crumble, though the mountains shake, though the waters roar, God stands immoveable. Steadfast. Strong. My help in trouble.

And if he can do this for me, as I only watch from afar as the days roll by, how much more can he do it for our daughter, in the very midst of the storm, tossed about on the waves.

It’s not about the strength of the storm, it’s about who you have in the boat with you!

If he can do it for me, he can do it for you.

When life begins to crumble, hold on to what you know. Lean into Christ, the solid rock, and take time to be still. Listen for his still, small voice that can carry even over the noise and tumult of the storm. If you’re listening for it, you will hear it.

Be still and know.