Last night, I went to a live recording for the band Housefires in Atlanta. It was a spontaneous decision and I almost chose not to go but am I ever thankful that I did! I knew it would be great worship but I was completely unprepared for how the Lord was going to show up. I thought I would share with you a few of the things that the Lord showed me/spoke over me during the almost 3 hour worship set.
1. He loves to bless me in ways I could never imagine.
Lately, I have been so caught up in life. I’m living a crazy, beautiful, overwhelming, but oh so perfect life right now. Last night, I got to worship alongside two of my closest friends. These friendships started in Africa and I couldn’t help but think back to almost 8 months ago when I cried on my plane ride home because I was convinced our friendships were going to fade away. Last night, I got to worship with two of these people again and I couldn’t help but think about how God is showering me with blessings every day. Blessings that I could never think up myself. It’s such a simple truth but one I need to be reminded of daily! Last night was a focus on love. God showed me the greatness and vastness of His love for me and how He pours this out in every second of every day.
2. He is worthy beyond anything I could ever offer.
This is an obvious truth but one I know I don’t give enough thought to. Lately, I’ve found myself coming to God with an agenda. Heal this hurt, clarify this plan, speak to me about this thing or that person. Lately, I haven’t been content to just be with Him and worship Him. I even went into last night expecting God to speak in these crazy ways and while that did happen, He reminded me how sweet it is to just be in His presence and what an honor it is to get to worship Him. He is great beyond anything I could comprehend and He reminded me to pull my focus off of myself and put it on Him. Worship isn’t about me. It’s not about what I need or what I want or whether I’m feeling in the right mood or connecting to the song. It’s a reminder that I have needed for a long time and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to just sit in His presence last night and re-focus on His greatness.
3. His promises are yes and Amen!
This week, I’ve felt fear and anxiousness about the next season of my life for the first time in awhile. I’ve doubted my next steps, doubted God’s goodness and his plan for me. I’ve given into anxiety and questioned the things He has spoken over me. I’ve let my desires for my next season over rule my confidence in what God has for me. About halfway through the week, God gave me the word “unfailing” in one of my quiet times. What does “unfailing” mean and do I believe that God’s love, goodness, provision and promises are unfailing? It didn’t take me long to see that regardless of how I answer that question, my actions and thoughts were saying very clearly that I do not. The more I studied the Word and prayed about this throughout the week, God showed me that “unfailing”, “faithful”, and “covenant” are all linked together. In my Bible translation, “faithful” is substituted for “unfailing” in many verses. Further study showed me that “faithful” comes from a Hebrew word that is synonymous with the word “covenant”. Through all of this, God has shown me that He has promised to be unfailing. He has made a covenant with me that He will never drop the ball, turn away, mess up, or break. The same goes for the things that He has spoken over me. The last song the band sang last night was about how God’s promises are yes and amen. They aren’t changing. He will never go back on His word or change His mind. The things He speaks and the plans He has are true and good, yes and amen. As I stood singing these words, I felt this overwhelming peace come over me. He is good. He has me in His arms and His intentions towards me are always good. What do I have to fear?
Essentially, last night can be summarized by saying that it was a refocusing of my eyes on God. He gently and sweetly called me back, lifted my eyes off of my own thoughts and feelings, and set my gaze back onto Himself.
