Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Because He Is Worthy

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.

—Psalm 95:6–7

Worship can turn the most miserable circumstances into a wonderful time. But our reason for worshiping should not be because we are in a good mood and feel like it. Nor should we refrain from worship because we are not in a good mood. We should worship because God is worthy. No matter what we are going through, no matter what our circumstances, God merits our worship. God is pleased when we worship Him with a proper heart.

I will share a little secret with you: Sometimes when you worship, your problems don’t go away, but they won’t seem as significant because you reevaluate things. You see, before you begin to worship, your problems can seem very big. But as you worship God and think about His glory, His power, His splendor, and His love, you come away with the realization that God is great and mighty, and your problems are tiny. You see Him in perspective.

The Book of Acts tells the story of Paul and Silas, who were beaten and imprisoned for preaching the gospel. The Bible tells us that at midnight, they worshiped God (see Acts 16:25). As they sang and worshiped, an earthquake came and the whole prison fell apart. It’s wonderful when you can be lifted above your circumstances like Paul and Silas were. I’m not talking about mind over matter; I’m talking about faith over circumstances, about honoring the true God who is still on the throne, no matter what you are going through.

God may deliver you immediately from your situation, like He did with Paul and Silas. Sometimes God will change your circumstances. Sometimes He won’t. But in all our circumstances, He is worthy of our worship. 


For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to  www.harvest.org.

 

Copyright © 2007 by Harvest Ministries.  All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.  Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.