STOP in the name of love

Every other Wednesday evening, a group of us get together for praise and worship. We alternate which church we meet at, and anyone is welcome. We sing and pray and it’s my midweek shot of spiritual refreshment. I truly enjoy it and I really feel incomplete on the weeks we skip.

I am notorious for being early to church. That 30-mile drive has never been an issue. I guess I should clarify that… I haven’t been late to church since I started going to the church that’s thirty miles away. There’s only been two times in my life when I genuinely LOVED being in church. The first time was many, many years ago when a group of us decided to start a church in the woods of northern Minnesota and the second time is now. Both times I had the same feeling. I just could not get enough of Jesus. And I didn’t care if the church was full or if I was the only one standing in it… I just couldn’t - I just can’t get enough.

I know I can praise and worship Him at home, or ANYWHERE for that matter, but there’s something about that sweet spirit when you are gathered in a room of believers. Matthew 18:20 says – “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” And when we are gathered together in praise and worship, He is most definitely there!

So, last Wednesday, I made the mistake of starting a project before I left for church and lost track of time. Thankfully, I caught myself in time and left thinking I would still be there with 5 minutes to spare. I was only a few miles down the road, when I came upon road construction. It was one of those one-lane situations with an attractive young woman in a reflective vest in charge of the SLOW/STOP sign. She seemed to be uninterested in anything but her cellphone. And she certainly didn’t notice the frustration of the woman in the first car in line waiting her turn to move onward.

I was cool as a cucumber at first. Surely all that activity on her cellphone was business, letting her know the pilot car would be coming over that hill any moment now or no cars were waiting on the other side so she could let us through. But I was starting to feel my patience slipping away as my five minutes of cushion time disappeared. And as the minutes rolled by, my ‘cool’ attitude disappeared also.

As I think back, I’m glad she was paying more attention to her phone than to me, because I was ugly. How dare they make me late for church. For CHURCH! Don’t they realize it’s Wednesday night? I bet they’re making lots of people late for church. That’s so rude, and NOT very Christian of them! Don’t they understand how important this is to me? I’m NEVER late! Are they seriously going to make me late?!

At some point during my personal little temper tantrum, my eyes landed on the mess of cords laying across my cupholders. I had a tangled mess of cellphone chargers and accessory cords piled there. I decided if I was going to be stuck there, I might as well be doing something. So, I start sorting cords. When I was done, I plugged in my accessory cord to my console – which I never use – to see what it would do. The first thing that popped up on my car's navigation screen was my favorites playlist. As soon as I hit PLAY, the music filled my car with worship music! And not just any worship music, but this song.

Lyrics. You are Worthy.pdf

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If you don't know the word or have never paid any attention to them, you should. I know I needed to that night. It only took moments for the tears to start as God reminded me why I praise and worship, and why I love it so much.

He deserves my praise at ALL times, not just when I feel like it or when things are going smoothly in my life. In fact, I should be praising Him more when things are NOT going so smoothly in my life. I know that... in my heart of hearts, I know that praise lifts my heart towards Him and heals my soul. As the tears flowed, He flooded my mind with every blessing I've received and all the times He's rescued me. My life is proof that He is worthy of praise. And I can't believe I forgot that... for even a moment.

My life was bought with a price... my life was exchanged for His. Every punishment that was due me, He accepted on the cross, so that I might have eternal life. That's huge! And I know He would have done it even if I was the only one in need of salvation. My God is worthy to be praised!

My heart filled with a renewed definition of praise as the car filled with worship. That young lady holding the STOP sign may not have known it, but I apologized for my ugliness and I prayed God would bless her. And even though I was late for church, I was NOT late for praise and worship... that started long before I walked through the doors.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.