This January, two of our supporting/home churches started 21 days of prayer and fasting. As I prayed about how/what to do during this time, the Lord spoke clearly to me that He wanted my worship for one hour each morning of the 21 days from 5am-6am. (Uff. I'm not REALLY an early morning person, so this definitely wasn't my idea!!). So, I've been setting my alarm and dragging myself out of bed (sometimes really physically dragging) to worship each morning.
Honestly, there have been some really GREAT overwhelming worship moments and there have been some days that have just been meh... However, every single day God has spoken in some way to my heart.
During the song, the singer shares a bit and talks about the phrase "when God closes a door, you worship in the hallway until He opens the next door". It's a phrase that I've heard before, but today it hit me in a different way. I realized... that's EXACTLY what I'm doing. That's what I've been doing. That's what I WILL CONTINUE TO DO.
BUT... GOD. In the past two years, we have been "worshiping in the hallway". We couldn't hold our worship academy activities at the school, BUT we have had opportunities to serve the teachers who are still there working and pour into them during this difficult season. We haven't been able to put the curriculum and all of our preparations into practice, BUT we have been able to start constructing on our land nearby which will one day house our ministry and be a place where we can have activities with our students. We haven't been able to do what we expected to do, BUT we have been able to do what God had planned for us to do during this season.
It is important to understand that praise is not some kind of magic lamp that we use to get God to do what we want. We aren't praising Him with one eye open to see how He changes the situation or how He moves on our behalf. Yes, it can happen. God still does miracles. However, I have found that praise usually changes US and realigns OUR perspective so that we can continue to walk forward in the situation.
Today, I was singing along with a worship service from Gateway Church (This is the video link to the worship service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4PYmNQ2MMY ) and at the 53:40 mark they start singing "The Goodness of God". This is a song that keeps "popping" up during my worship times. Every single playlist or service I have listened to has had this song in it without me knowing ahead of time. I had to laugh when the song started. (Yes, Lord. I hear you).
As many of you, I too had other plans when the pandemic started in March 2020. Raul and I were looking forward to launching an afterschool Christ-centered art and worship program in May 2020 at the local public school. We were busy putting things in order, writing curriculum, and getting ready to launch, BUT... COVID.
If you haven't read about my unexpected COVID adventure, I invite you to go back and read the past posts. Short story, I got stuck and separated from my husband for seven months in the States before finally making it back to Guatemala. Face-to-face classes were cancelled in March 2020 and are STILL cancelled at the local public school where we serve. EVERYTHING we had planned for was put on hold... and still is on hold. Anyone in a similar place?
See, the pandemic HAS NOT changed God's goodness. Having to put our plans and our ideas on hold HAS NOT changed God's goodness. The death, sickness, and frustrations we have all experienced during this pandemic HAS NOT changed God's goodness. He is STILL GOOD and He is still WORTHY of our praise.
When we lift up praise despite what we see/feel, we are literally offering a sacrifice of praise. It's not natural, it's not something that we usually "want" to do, but HE IS WORTHY. So, I want to encourage you... PRAISE HIM IN THE HALLWAY. I imagine things don't look like what we expected them to look like. I imagine we would all change things in our lives right now if we could... BUT, GOD. Praise Him. Lift up praise to Him.
So, I want to invite you to the hallway with me today (you're probably already here). Let us PRAISE HIM today. Maybe you can't think of anything you want to praise Him for. That's ok. I find that putting on worship music and letting it lead me can be helpful when I don't know where to start. He is still good. He is still worthy. Let us praise Him in the hallway.
If you're interested in finding out more about our ministry in Guatemala, check out our website: www.graciaministries.com
