Start in worship:

The Devo:

Do you ever feel like God is distant in worship?

 

Musical worship is just the surface of what worship encapsulates, but to keep things simpler we are just going to talk about musical worship for a moment. I am sure most of us have had such precious moments in worship where the presence of God feels so tangible it’s like the air in the room is thick with His glory.

 But what about the times when that doesn’t happen? What about the moments where you don’t feel anything? What do you do when you feel disconnected from what everyone else in the room seems to be feeling?

 I have gone through seasons of both. Seasons where I have felt like weeping during every song because the love of the Father felt so overwhelming and seasons where I have been left simply asking “God, where are you?”. In both seasons, Jesus was drawing me to himself. He never left.

Psalm 139:7-12

 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

You can’t run away from God. You can’t hide from God. Even when we try our hardest to run as fast as we can in the opposite direction, as soon as you turn around, He is still right there.

Remember Jonah? He’s they guy who had a clear call from God and he literally tried running in the opposite direction. God was with him every step of the way even in his rebellion to the point where Jonah had no choice but to turn around. Even since the very beginning with Adam and Eve when they first sinned and “hid” themselves, God came looking. He never left them, He was always there.

 What an incredible Saviour!

Always pursuing. (Luke 19:10) Always faithful even when we are faithless. (2 Timothy 2:13) He loves us even while we still sin. (Romans 5:8) The human heart and mind can’t fully comprehend the love, grace and mercy that we have in Jesus!

 So where does that leave us in our first question? How does God sometimes feel distant in worship? And why? If He is with Jonah in his rebellion, and Adam and Eve in their hiding, and if he loves us even while we still sin, then why not lavish His manifest presence on us in every moment?

 I asked God that question once. Actually, it was more than once - this was one of those wrestle till you get an answer type of scenarios, but the answer I came away with forever changed my perspective on “feeling” the presence of God.

See, I had been in a spiritually dry season for a long time. Everyone goes through ups and downs, but this was lasting for what felt like an unbearably long time. The circumstances didn’t make sense - the church was thriving, new songs were pouring out, God was moving and the church was responding… But I wasn’t feeling much of anything. I remember a moment of frustration during worship where I simply and bluntly asked

“God where are you? Why can’t I feel you?”

And the Holy Spirit whispered back “Do you worship Me, or just the feeling of My presence?” I had to think about that for a long time. (I still do sometimes!)

 What I learned was that it is so incredibly easy to worship worship. It is so incredibly easy to slightly shift where our affections are aimed and miss the mark entirely. I had to ask myself some hard questions. Do I want the feeling of God's presence more than God Himself? Does my worship, and how engaged I am in bringing my own worship depend on how much I feel God is there? Has worship itself become the centre of my affection rather than Jesus himself? Have I decided to worship on my terms instead of His? These are humbling questions. God revealed to me that there were times when my worship was actually the opposite of what worship is supposed to be - it was idolatry.

I said that in this season Jesus was drawing me to Himself and that is absolutely true. He shifted my worship from being based on what I felt I was getting out of it, (again, idolatry) to being based simply on His worth. Since His worth does not change, that is a much more solid foundation to build a life of worship on.

You might like to think that when I had these realizations the presence of God came flooding back in every moment of worship but that is not what happened. God is actually way too good of a Father to let that happen. Instead, He walked right beside me as I started to learn to worship Him for WHO He is, and not for a feeling of Him. And yes, there have been many times since then that I have been completely overwhelmed by His incredible presence. He is, after all, a good good Father who knows how to give good gifts to His children - His presence being one them!

 He is never distant. He is actually teaching us that our worship can be more affectionate than we realize. Psalm 96:4

Action: (this will require a quiet private place) Take a few minutes to focus completely on Jesus. With your audible voice declare who He is to you. Let your heart engage with Him, regardless of what you feel.

Let's light up our world : Digital Postcards

Note: It's easiest to do this part from your phone if you are going to use texting or social media to send it. If you are using a computer it is best to email or telegram the postcard.

1. Pick one of the Postcards. 2. Ask Holy Spirit who this is for? 3. Look at the card and ask Holy Spirit for a word of encouragement for them.  4. Send the postcard with the word of encouragement.

Quiet Prayer video