With her wheelchair positioned at the end of the row, she moves freely, her arms waving in the air with abandon, her face glowing. She sings loudly and doesn’t care who is watching or what they are thinking. This is Emily’s time with Jesus, and she savors it. After watching Emily for months, I learned she has faced many hurdles in her life. Her body is 17 years old, but her mind is like a seven-year-old, so she doesn’t worship to impress or please people. She doesn’t worry about religious styles and rules. Out of childlike trust in her savior, Emily gives Jesus everything she has during worship time, and she radiates love.
I am realizing in a new way that praise and worship is not just about singing, it’s about living, loving, and getting through those tough times resting in His
presence. Like Emily, I can leave the rituals and styles and be in a state of worship wherever I am, any time of day. This is the place of trust, knowing that the only way I will get through the “tough stuff” is hanging on to God, and allowing myself to be intimate and vulnerable.
presence. Like Emily, I can leave the rituals and styles and be in a state of worship wherever I am, any time of day. This is the place of trust, knowing that the only way I will get through the “tough stuff” is hanging on to God, and allowing myself to be intimate and vulnerable. Trust doesn’t sprout in the absence of doubt. It grows in the presence of relationship. If we know Him, we trust Him. (Ps. 9:10). Knowing God grows trust in God.
When words fail, when your heart breaks, you can whisper a song. Find that song in your heart and sing it softly, or with wild abandon. Let God have your brokenness, knowing that something new, healing, and beautiful is waiting on the other side.
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