I Worship You. When I Feel Like It....

The expression on my face describes
how I felt.

"But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and annointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped" 2 Samuel 12: 19-20

A few weeks ago, I was driving on interstate 66, on my way to work. This particular interstate has a reputation for having really bad traffic. On this particular morning, I woke up late and missed the 5:45 train that I usually take. So, to avoid the wrath of the director of the office in which I work, I decided to drive into the nearest Metro Station. (This is the subway for Virginia). During my commute to the metro station, I begin to pray and completely lost track of where I was. I totally missed my exit. This would be fine except for the fact that traffic really picks up after this exit and it is hard to turn around. So, I freaked out for a moment and then realized that I still had time to just drive to work. I would just have to pay the $14 for parking. Well, as I'm driving, I notice a sign for another metro station. I decide that instead of paying $14 for parking that I would rather still just ride the metro.

So, I get off at the exit. As soon as I took the exit, I see a police officer pointing a flashlight at me. I slowed down, perplexed, and looked at him like he was crazy. I know I wasn't speeding. What in the world is he stopping me for? I roll down my window and he tells me that I'm being pulled over for an HOV violation. I was so confused. Apparently, the ENTIRE exit was HOV only. ARE YOU SERIOUS?

I was so upset. I immediately began sobbing. I was so frustrated. Not only was I going to be late for work, but now, I'm going to have to pay this huge fine for this ticket. Needless to say, I cried all the way to work.

Fast forward to the next week. I wrote about this in the post before the last one: my ex and his choices. I was completely floored and pissed. Pissed is an understatement. I was angry, bitter, and had resentment. Again, it was a situation in which I had no control over. However, it affected me. Fast forward to the next week. I started having these pains in my lower abdomen. I never get cramps, so when I do feel them, it alarms me. The pain grew as the week went on. So, finally, I decided to go to the doctor. When I got home, however, I couldn't find my insurance card. It wasn't in my purse. I tore my room and my car apart to no avail.

In the midst of these instance, I would kick and scream like a child. I also had some choice words for the Lord as well. (I'm pretty bold, huh? No, stupid is more like it.) Each time I would come to my senses and repent. I would repent for being angry with God and for the things that I said to Him.

Now, I had come across the above passage regarding David well before my string of episodes. In 2 Samuel, we see that David messed up big time. He slept with a married woman, got her pregnant, and then had her husband killed. As a result, the Lord told David that the child would not live. So, David asked the Lord to turn his wrath away and spare the child. The Bible says that, "David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them." 2 Samuel 12:16

After repenting, fasting, and crying out, the Lord still took his baby. I would've been crushed. But guess what David did?

The Bible says that he worshipped. When I read that, I closed my Bible. I was completely floored. Who does that?

Recently, right in the middle of one of my trials, God took me to the book of Job. Satan had received the Lord's permission to try Job. Job's cattle and oxen were taken, his servants were attacked, and his children were killed!

Guess how Job responded: "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.'"

"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing."

If that wasn't enough for me, last Friday, as I lay in my bed crying from pain and frustration of not being able to go to the doctor, I heard the words, "worship me." I knew it was the Lord. It made absolutely no sense to me and was nothing that I wanted to do at the time. After a little resistance, I got on my face, and I worshipped.

I know that was a lot to take in. But I had to tell all of this so that you understand how important it is to worship. Worshipping is a choice. It isn't something that we do because we merely feel like it. Yes, there will be times when we really do feel like worshipping; everything is going just as planned, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all is well within our world. Of course, it's easy for us to worship the Lord.

But what about those times when you're worrying about how bills are going to be paid? What about when boyfriend/girlfriend decides they don't want to be with you anymore? When the kids are acting up? When there is trouble on your job?

Will you worship God then?

God is sovereign. He reigns during the good and the bad. He is in control of everything. The Bible says that "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. " Psalm 24:1 Everything belongs to God and therefore everything is under His control. And because He is such an awesome God, He causes "all things to work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.

God deserves worship at all times. And this is what He has been trying to get me to understand. In the midst of trying times, right at the moment when I'm angry and in the middle of chaos, instead of charging God as though He had done wrong, I must choose to worship. I have to acknowledge that through all of the pain that God is still God. He is in control. He is still my keeper, my provider, and my salvation.

If we lose sight of this, we begin to focus on the problem and not on the God who is able to knock down the problem. Choosing to worship brings our minds and our spirits back towards God, acknowledging who He is and as a result, we put Him above the problem.
So, I challenge you to turn hard times into opportunities to worship. I honestly believe that if you make this a practice, you will begin to see your circumstances from a totally different perspective. When you realize that God is so much bigger than your heaviest burden, you will realize that you have the victory. Though the situation may look bleak, you can stand firm knowing that if the Lord allowed you to get to it, He will definitely get you through it.