When the Music Fades

God has been stirring in my heart for the last while, a slightly different way that He is calling me to respond to Him. As a worship leader for the last decade, I've had a huge heart for music and specifically Worship music. Ever since I new Christ on a more personal level, God has used my love for music to draw me closer to Him. He has used this as a tool to lead me home.

I've always been committed to prayer, reading the bible and learning about my Saviour. However, those things were not the focus of how I respond to God, it was always worship music. Not too long ago God revealed to me a challenge. He was calling me to strip away the music, to move away from the theatrics. He was calling me to see His true beauty, without the distraction of all the dressings we place over top.

This became even more apparent when I took a break from leading worship at my home church. I started to go to Church and see God's true beauty. Even when the organ hit the wrong notes, even when the drummer skipped a beat, even when I forgot the words, even when the Pastor wasn't on his game--I can still worship my God.

If I can't enter into worship unless my atmosphere is ideal, unless there is stage lighting, a fog machine, big screens, flashy lasers and electric guitars, then I'm missing a huge component of my relationship with God. Life situations are almost always deficient, but that it what challenges us to a deeper, more profound relationship with our Maker.

Don't get me wrong, God wants us to play skillfully to Him and we should always bring our best. I also think it's smart to eliminate distractions as much as possible. That might mean asking the tone-deaf person to take a break for a week, asking the drummer to play an easier beat pattern, or the electric guitarist to turn their blasting distortion down a notch. But the focus should be our offering to God.

So bring on the wrong notes, the off beat drums, and the lady who can't carry a tune! Because that's when God can really speak to me, to us.