Worship Wednesday
Chronicles 16:34 He Is GOOD…
When things in life don’t feel good, what leads me to have confidence that God is still good?
When I read His Word.
When I stop to remember what He’s done in my life.
When I look around and take account of all He is doing in the present.
When I REALLY STOP to evaluate, I see all the many ways He is still obviously at work. Can you list some right now? Take a moment to do that. (Suggestion: write this list in your phone or on a sticky note for your mirror!)
Here was my list…
I have a job, Caleb has a job, we are in good health, all my immediate family is healthy and still have jobs. Given our present circumstances, naturally these came to my mind first. But that list doesn’t scratch the surface of what God has done over the years. The ways He’s protected me, waited for me, grieved with me, mourned with me, rejoiced with me, comforted me. This infinite list surely should be enough to keep me rooted in my confidence that God is good. Right? Well, we all know that that’s not necessarily the truth. For some reason, our present situation can completely overshadow the blessed journey God has brought us through. So what does keep us rooted in the truth that He Is GOOD?
Maybe my list above kind of sounds like I just had some good luck or karma. But the truth is that God was protecting specific areas of my life that He would not allowed the enemy to disrupt. It didn’t mean that I never experienced hardship. Trust me, there was plenty of that! But nothing like what we read in the book of Job from the Bible. In his story, we see that Satan actually had to ask God’s permission to disrupt areas of Job’s life. That tells me God has full control of our situation at all times, but He allows us to endure hardships to bring us closer to Him. James 1:2-3 says: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” These moments can lead us to our most intimate, pivotal seasons in our faith - if we allow them to. Our response under pressure will determine that. In the first chapter of Job, his children and livestock are all taken from him in just one day. And he finishes that day by saying: “Praise the name of the Lord!” Talk about worship!
I have the choice every day to either trust God amidst my circumstances or to take matters into my own hands without even asking God to show me what He’s doing in my situation. That’s what Elimelech did in Ruth chapter one. He was scared his family would die from the famine in Bethlehem. So instead of seeking God’s plan, he uprooted his family from the land God gave to them. As a result, he and his two sons died anyway. When we seek God’s plan and trust Him with our circumstances, we’re inviting Him to come in and do what we cannot. Essentially, we are saying, “Alright God, time to watch you work! Go ahead and show off!”
So let’s talk practical application! How do we come to this place of confident trust and surrender? It’s easier said than done, right? Correct. It takes discipline to be in God’s Word daily. But this is the only hope for us truly knowing who our Father is. And when we know Him, our instinctual response is to trust Him. And when we trust Him, we can surrender our life to Him. Developing a discipline of coming to God and creating sacred [private] space with Him to read His Word every single day is the most scriptural description of worship. Worship is about surrendering our lives to God (Romans 12:1). But that can not, and will not, be our instinctual response if we do not know Him. Create sacred space today. Get alone. Open your Bible. Listen to worship music that sings about who our Father is. And get to know Him. Because He Is GOOD.
