"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
I have a favorite CD that I keep in my car. When I play that CD, I am immediately drawn into worship. It settles my heart and causes me to dwell on God's greatness.
On a recent trip to my office, during one of those worshipful episodes, I put that CD on pause to take a call. By way of my cell phone, business rushed in to interrupt my worship. Too quickly my attention turned to the familiar burdens of my day.
Gone was the worship. Gone was delighting in God's presence. Gone was resting in abandonment to a loving God. Replacing it was the anxiety of tasks undone and the hurriedness of meeting schedules already packed too full. By the time I reached my office, I was roaring to go, though as one under the compulsion of deadlines and forgotten tasks.
As I reached to turn off the car's ignition, I noticed the CD player was still on pause. I hit the play button once again. As I had experienced so many times before, when the music came to life, so did my heart. Remarkably, my spirit worshipped once again and I experienced that uncommon rest of being in His presence. The contrast made me wonder, "Why do I so easily lose the perspective and peace that I experience in worship?" Then it occurred to me. The Music Maker is always playing his song for me. I just don't hear it because I've hit the pause button. I've often thought that it's my life that I need to pause -- to take time out; to get away and experience Him. Yet, it's not my life that I put on pause to experience Him. It is He that I put on pause to experience my "life," if you consider preoccupation with burdens "life."
What a poor trade-off. His music is much better than my noise. His singing of delight and joy is always better than the din of my worries. If I am to "rejoice always" (Phil 4:4), it may be that I need to join in the song of rejoicing that my Father is singing. You know, I always sing better with the volume cranked up.
Gone was the worship. Gone was delighting in God's presence. Gone was resting in abandonment to a loving God. Replacing it was the anxiety of tasks undone and the hurriedness of meeting schedules already packed too full. By the time I reached my office, I was roaring to go, though as one under the compulsion of deadlines and forgotten tasks.
As I reached to turn off the car's ignition, I noticed the CD player was still on pause. I hit the play button once again. As I had experienced so many times before, when the music came to life, so did my heart. Remarkably, my spirit worshipped once again and I experienced that uncommon rest of being in His presence. The contrast made me wonder, "Why do I so easily lose the perspective and peace that I experience in worship?" Then it occurred to me. The Music Maker is always playing his song for me. I just don't hear it because I've hit the pause button. I've often thought that it's my life that I need to pause -- to take time out; to get away and experience Him. Yet, it's not my life that I put on pause to experience Him. It is He that I put on pause to experience my "life," if you consider preoccupation with burdens "life."
What a poor trade-off. His music is much better than my noise. His singing of delight and joy is always better than the din of my worries. If I am to "rejoice always" (Phil 4:4), it may be that I need to join in the song of rejoicing that my Father is singing. You know, I always sing better with the volume cranked up.
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