Worship is an outward expression of an inward belief that God really is good. It does not have to be in a form of singing. Writing prose, dancing, drawing, praying out loud, and many other forms can be used to worship the goodness of God. For me, much like many other believers, I find great joy in corporate worship during the Sunday service. However, I’m not going to lie and say that the current pandemic has not affected my worship rhythm.
Fortunately, though at times I may not be faithful in worship, “the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). This is not an excuse to not faithfully worship Him of course. Read through, I’ll get to my point in a bit.
A few weeks ago, a hymn came to mind as I tried to pick myself up for my soul to worship Him – one of my forever favourite songs – ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’. Here are four lines that the Holy Spirit brought to my attention after listening to the song every morning for a week:
“Morning by morning new mercies I see”
A pastor once said “if God woke you up this morning, He’s not finished with you.” Let that simmer for a while. God wakes you up because you’re not done yet. Which means that every day we wake up, God has provided us yet another 24 hours to enjoy. Whether we are on the highs of our discipleship journey or the lows where we might feel undeserving, the fact that we can still open our eyes in the morning shows how faithful and loving our God is!
“Join with all nature in manifold witness”
Here’s one that hit quite hard. Even when you’re feeling down and unable to worship, look around! All the things around us are there because God created them, and they are the witness of His faithfulness, mercy, and love. Because of the pandemic, many of us have added a daily walk into our schedules. Every now and then, take off your earphones. Better yet, leave your smartphone at home and just look around. Pay attention to the shapes and colours of flowers. Listen as each bird sings a different song. Feel the tingle of the wind whipping past your face and the warmth of the sun hugging your skin.
“Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow”
We have all experienced a downward spiral, where we overthink of the ‘what ifs’ and end up not enjoying the present. Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” When we wake up each day, let’s focus on today. As the song goes, ask for the strength for today. As I have mentioned above, ‘today’ is a part of what God has provided for us to work and take care of. I’m not suggesting that believers should not care for tomorrow and live free, or #YOLO as millennials would say. Worry about tomorrow when we’re there.
Since we’re still in today, let’s give our best to steward it, and turn worry for tomorrow into bright hope. It takes more muscles to frown than to smile. Also, being hopeful requires communication with God. It draws us closer to Him because we’ll pray for it more and we’ll seek Him even more to find the answer. And being dependent on our God is never a bad thing for us humans.
“Great is Thy faithfulness!”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word great as an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above average; impressive or grand; ability, quality, or eminence considerably above average.
Try to remember the best dish you have ever tasted. I know this is weird but stay with me. Do you have it in your mind now?
His faithfulness is greater than that.
Think of a place you’ve visited that made you stand in awe.
His faithfulness is greater than that.
That one person who’s your hero or your mentor, someone that you look up to.
His faithfulness is greater than them.
I’d like for us to realise that this whole post is only talking about one characteristic of our God. If His faithfulness alone is, “intensely above average, impressive or grand,” as defined by the dictionary, imagine how great Thou art.
And for that, even at times when I find it challenging, I will forever worship Him.
Jethro Lismano
Jethro is a Community Life Support Worker at Crossway Church.