Being in a worship environment, surrounded by other believers, singing loud, abandoning pride … It’s hard to beat that experience. When I actually embrace the moment and truly let myself worship freely, my heart feels fullest. I sing loud the promises of God, I sing loud the characteristics of God – who He is, what He’s done, what I know He’s going to do.
“And if our God is for us, who can ever stop us …”
“He loves us, oh how he loves us!”
These are the statements that are so easy to sing.
And then, sometimes the songs change pace … The words shift from just declarations of God to an introspective look at our own lives. We sing the words of our own actions – the words that define our interactions with our creator.
“All to Jesus, I surrender … All to Him I freely give … I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”
“Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say … it is well, it is well with my soul.”
Of course, I still want to sing. I still want to close my eyes and raise my hands, but there’s a battle that starts raging in my mind. I can sense the discouragement creeping in – talking to me as I dwell on those words, those things I’m not sure – deep down – I really mean.
“You don’t really believe that do you? How can you sing ‘I surrender all’ when you haven’t even opened your Bible today? Aren’t you being a hypocrite? You should probably just sit this one out.”
What are we supposed to do in moments like that? How are we supposed to sing certain songs, and make these bold statements when we feel in our gut we’re not really in that place?
This is a common emotion: feeling inadequate. Going to a place of guilt and disappointment during a moment that’s meant to be freeing and encouraging. The enemy loves to distort our perception, and use even the positive things in life to tear us down.
It’s all about our perspective. It’s about how we choose to respond to our God in worship. This was the shift that began to set me free. We can speak things over our lives even if we aren’t quite there yet.
I can make “I surrender all” into a prayer, into a prophetic word, in my life even in the midst of struggling to give it all to Him.
It’s a shift in my thinking. I don’t have to have it all figured out, and I don’t have to be at this perfect place in my walk with God in order to sing to Him the things that I want to happen in my life.
When we tell God what we want to see Him accomplish through us – with our perspective aligning with His – it changes the way we worship. Not only are we approaching Him as a king, as a father deserving of our praise, but we are also approaching him as a conqueror, a fighter and a restorer who can break the chains in our lives. I know that I can’t always say with good conscience that whatever my problems, I’ll always have a peace and it will always be “well with my soul,” but I can cling to the truth that God can bring me to that place. He can realign my heart to fully trust His promises over me.
There’s never a time God asks us to have it all together before approaching Him. Don’t let that reality change the way you worship. Sing loud. Sing boldly. Believe that God can turn your song into truth in your life.
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