We were in Grove, OK last night ministering in worship. Everything was set up. The platform, the instruments, the tracks, everything. Everything was plugged into its correct place. Yet when we fired up everything, the tracks didn't play, the sound module wasn't communicating with the keyboard, nothing was working! How frustrating. What to do? Well, we just went ahead since we were out of time and the meeting had to begin. Paul grabbed his guitar and I sat at the keyboard and off we went. We didn't have all the components that we wanted in order to bring comfort to OUR hearts in the presentation.
But that didn't stop God.
As we worshipped, the atmosphere was energized with the presence of the Lord. People worshipped freely without distraction and shouts of praise and rejoicing filled the room. All we had was a simple keyboard, simple guitar, and two simple voices, but the room was filled to capacity with the praises of the Most High. We'd been in this situation before many times, and worse, and the outcome has been the same. God showed up when we worshipped.
What this tells me is that you don't need to have all the "earthly" components around you or at your disposal to entertain the Spirit of God. All He needs are people who want Him around and are willing to host Him at any cost. We don't need the flashy stuff, just a heart that is in love with Him because His heart is definitely in love with us.
Think about the woman who gave 2 mites compared to the hundreds given by the masses. They all gave, but HERS is the gift that caught GOD'S attention. It wasn't much. It wasn't flashy. It was simply all she had. What about you? Could you be content with simply giving God all you have regardless how it looks to you? Would you be willing to worship God with simplicity instead of with the latest and greatest thing that catches the eye of people? Do NOT get me wrong here. I don't mean to say that excellence and relevance is not needed. OH NO! Quite the contrary. Instead, I'm saying that if your "equipment" isn't state of the art no matter how much you prepare (and please, for the love of God, prepare!), will your heart of worship be less than excellent toward the Lord? If it ends up being less than excellent toward Him, you're depending too much on your external excellence! Again, we MUST be excellent in our presentation at all times. We SHOULD have the state-of-the-art equipment in our worship services and churches. But we should NOT become dependent upon them at ANY time in order to have an anointed worship experience.
Look, Man. All I'm trying to say is, "be free to worship regardless." You know? Have all the stuff. Yes indeed, have all the stuff. But know that the ONLY One who gets your heart is the King of Glory.
He's all that really matters in the end.
Shalom,
G