Imperfect Worship

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
    no one who does what is right and never sins.

Ecclesiastes 7:20

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

                                   Romans 5:8

 Not too long ago I put up this message on the church marquee: “God loves you and your messy heart.” The message spoke to me, and I wanted passersby to know that the Lord knows that we’re not perfect, that we’re messy, and that boy howdy—He loves us anyway!

It hit me a little bit Sunday, and Monday morning as I was praying and ruminating about the number of small kinks we had during the service this past Sunday—me, as liturgist, frantically trying to mic up Mateo for the Advent reading as church starts so I go sprinting up the aisle…me forgetting that the choir was going to sing after the Advent reading…confusion as to how many we needed up for communion, me saying Jericho was going to sing but then, oh wait, never mind…(yes, I’m quite aware that I’m the common denominator in these examples)—what hit me was the fact that although we had these kinks and “opportunities”, we still came together as a body of Christ to worship God. As much as I would’ve liked to have things go so much more smoothly, He was still praised and glorified. He still honors our acts of praise, even though they aren’t perfect. What we give and do in sincerity, He receives gladly. I’m not saying that we can just phone it in and that He’ll be okay with that, because that’s simply not true. He deserves our best. He knows our heart, and will honor the degree to which our outward expression matches our inward motivation.  

I’m so thankful for this realization. I’ve been accused by friends of living too much “in the details” or maybe even being a perfectionist, and before this realization, something like the little challenges we had during the service would have weighed heavily on me. I’m also burdened with being a people pleaser. I take my role as being a member of the Worship committee very seriously, and I want you guys to know my commitment to having a snag-free worship service is honorable and true. However, I am human, those leading the worship service are human, and we’re going to have hiccups along the way. You extended grace to me throughout the service; the least I could do is extend that same grace to myself, right?

Y’all, we are so blessed to be able to come together to adore the One who gave us our very breath. May we always have a heart of worship for Him, for He is our focus and reason for being.

Prayer Requests

·      For those struggling with change

·      For those lonely this holiday season

·      For victims of human trafficking, and for their families worried about and missing them

·      For us to seek to do His will, regardless of whether we understand the outcome or not

Thank you, as always, for listening to my ramblings. Know that I appreciate and pray for you.

 Quotes

“There will come a time when every step of the journey God is taking you on will make sense. Until then, keep trusting Him.”                                    

“A bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.”