Some of you may or may not be aware of this, but at my church I am both a campus pastor (we are linked with another church in Crown Point Indiana) and I am also the worship leader. So I serve in a couple of capacities every week.
On Sunday (3/20/16) – unbeknownst to most – God answered my prayer though it was not necessarily in a way I would desire for anyone as the prayer He answered was done in a way to humble me.
Before the worship service, I prayed with the praise team as we do every week, and I asked God to take control of our minds, our fingers, our hearts, and our voices and lead us…and help us to try not think more of ourselves that we should lead Him.
The first song went really well and the second song was off to a great start. And maybe some of you folks who are worship leaders as well can relate – but my mind started to wander a little during song two. You see in my mind I began to get a little haughty about how we were doing. I started swelling up with pride at how well I felt we were doing. Maybe even more so at how I was doing.
And then it happened.
Right as we got to the bridge of song two I went completely blank. I couldn’t remember the melody of the bridge. In fact, I couldn’t even remember the words even though I was very literally looking right at them on the music stand.
I froze.It felt like an eternity.
It felt like an eternity.
I just started playing one chord and desperately trying to sing to myself to find the melody.
Nothing was working. Nothing.
Finally, I realized what may be the problem and I simply prayed, “God forgive me. This is not about me but it is about you.”
And then the melody came back.
You see, God had indeed taken control of my mind and put me in my place. He heard my thoughts, he saw my heart, and He heard and acted on my prayer. After all, I had asked him to intervene and take control of our hearts and minds so we would be led by Him and not us trying to lead Him. He did exactly as I had asked him to do.
I strive for excellence in all that I do at the church. I want my best foot forward with God. And I think it’s important that we do strive for excellence. After all, God is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, does He not deserve our best?
Of course, He does!
But sometimes I (insert we) get too full of myself (insert ourselves) and God has to step in and remind me (insert us) why I’m (insert we’re) there.
It’s about Him and only Him. It has always been about him and only Him. He is the only one who is worthy of the praise and honor. We are indeed joint heirs with Jesus to the Kingdom of God, but we are still HIS creation. We are still HIS children. And we are still HIS servants. We are not, nor will we ever be greater than Him.
Thank goodness too!
I would let a LOT of people down if it were all about me.
Psalm 145:17-21
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.