Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless His holy name!
David (shepherd boy turned king), Psalm 103:1
One thing that has been a part of my spiritual and character formation has been worship. Yes, worship is a response to what God has done, but what happens when worship (or rather, creating the environment for worship to happen) is your job? Through the week to week routine of it all, as well as in the times where you are walking through personal battles or frustrations of your own, there is temptation to slip into autopilot, in a way that does not engage the heart (personally). One thing I’ve found, however, is that it is often in the difficult, desperate, and just-not-‘feeling it’ times that God breaks through with His empowering presence (Grace). Not necessarily in a sensational way, but rather in a way where I experience perseverance, patience, and hope being formed in me – a slow, deep work. In that sense, worship has also become a spiritual discipline for me as well. Because, worshiping God in the tough times of life doesn’t mean hyping yourself up, or being inauthentic about your state of mind, but rather it’s about learning how to worship God in the various terrains of life.
I recently had the opportunity to teach on this. You can listen here: