Worship is... (Part 3)
Worship is waiting.
I deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. We entered the season of Lent during mobilization training and I was asking God what He wanted me to pray for during that season. I felt led to pray for more compassion. For the next 10 years, my family went through some of the worst things you can imagine. We cried out to God... a lot... for deliverance. I vividly remember a time in 2012 when I was begging God for answers. In the brokenness of my heart, I heard Him say, "I answered your prayer." I had completely forgotten about what I had prayed years before... until that moment. How do you get compassion? By going through horrible things so you understand what others are experiencing. I had asked God for compassion, and He allowed me and my family to suffer in answer to that prayer.
I broke down weeping. At the time, I thought that since I understood what God was doing, it would end. But no... I had eight more years to go.
About halfway through that time, Covenant Worship released "Here Waiting," the song we're introducing to the church. It had a tremendous impact on us, especially me. It aptly described where we were, waiting on the Lord. "You are near, always near to the brokenhearted. You are faithful and true. You are good, always good. I'm standing on your promise. I will wait for you." I still didn't understand that we were just halfway through God's planned journey.
Waiting is hard. We live in an instant gratification world. We all know this, but we are just as impatient with God as we are when we have to wait a few extra minutes in the drive-through line at Wendy's. God doesn't work in the span of minutes. He works in the span of millennia. We see this throughout the Bible. How long did God wait to answer the prayers of the Israelites in Egypt? 400 years. How long did God wait to finish His plan for Israel? We are still waiting for that completion... over 2,500 years. I felt led by God to start a ministry back in 1998. We are just now getting to the point where that plan is coming to fruition, 25 years later. But here's what we know...
Worship is waiting.
How you wait is just as important as how you work. If you are in a time of waiting, I encourage you to embrace it and welcome what God is doing in your life through that time, because here's what I know for sure... what is coming is worth it!
SONGS FOR SUNDAY
Seek First
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfAusAxKaaE
Trading My Sorrows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KsfwvpcQhY
Goodness of God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f4MUUMWMV4
Broken Vessels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiyYoe678yI
Revelation Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Gxjtd6Wp4
...and we are learning
Here Waiting