I had an Apostrophe
Today my post will be short. I have a lot that I'm thinking on but all of those thoughts are ones that haven't fully developed. God is still molding them.
I was doing Bible study today and I had several little epiphanies throughout. I'm sure anyone who is even remotely active in knowing the Word of God would probably say that these epiphanies are really not that spectacular. In fact, they're downright elementary. But I don't know, when God reveals something through a different lens, it's exciting and refreshing to me. I'm only going to share one of these revelations today. I'll try to keep this short and to the point (lol yeah right.)
I was reading in Genesis about Jacob and Esau, and about how Isaac was deceived into blessing Jacob with the blessing of the firstborn, rather than giving it rightfully to Esau. I've read this story a hundred times but here's what struck me. When Rebekah was pregnant with Jacob and Esau, they struggled within her. She didn't know why she was feeling what she was feeling, so it says she, "went and inquired of the Lord." It was then that God revealed to her that she had 2 nations within her, and that they would struggle, and that the older would serve the younger. Fast forward to the portion I was reading today, I always thought it was strange that Rebekah chose to deceive her own husband into blessing Jacob, when both she and her husband knew that the older would serve the younger. But, as the text presents it, it does not say that Isaac was with Rebekah when she inquired of the Lord. Therefore, Isaac probably didn't know that the Lord had said "The older shall serve the younger." Now for the point: God had promised. Rebekah knew the time had come for Isaac to bestow the blessing on the oldest. Instead of waiting on God, trusting Him to fulfill what He had promised, she tried to "help". Interestingly enough, Sarah, Abraham's wife, did the exact same thing! When time started ticking and she still didn't get pregnant with an heir, she took matters into her own hands, trying to "help" God fulfill His promise, and in doing so, created a disaster that is still manifesting itself today. My epiphany was this: God doesn't need our help! If He has promised, He will fulfill!! Many times I get so impatient that I think I have to help Him out. I get stressed out and think, "Oh no, nothing's happening, what am I doing wrong, should I change something in my life, should I try this, should I try that..." instead of just believing that if He has promised something, He will totally take care of it. He doesn't need my help! He needs my trust. My patience. He needs to grant me wisdom to know when to move and when to stay absolutely still and wait. I know that sounds so simple, but its timing was perfect for me. I don't want to try to "help" God with what I believe are His personal promises to me. He's sovereign. If He has promised, He will fulfill.
“Remember this, and be assured;
9
“Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11
Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man of My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it,
Surely I will do it.
Isaiah 46:8-11
A Sacrifice of Praise
"But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel." Ps. 22:3This is a fairly fresh concept to me. My eyes were first opened to the idea of God being enthroned on our praise around Thanksgiving 2012, but it's something that I haven't really grasped until last week.
Praise is a fascinating concept to me because it is an action that we must engage in. What's even more fascinating to me is what happens to us when we do place God on a throne of praise. I'm going to try very carefully to convey this thought because it could be easily misconstrued.
We are commanded throughout God's word, and especially in the Psalms, to praise God. I had always thought that we do this out of duty or obligation or... Honestly I didn't even know why we did it. Isn't it sad that for 21 years I lived within this frame of reference, not truly understanding why we lift our voices and songs to God? Why we direct our musical abilities to Him? I was always bad at training my mind to focus on God during any type of musical endeavor because I just couldn't see the point. At the root of the problem was my belief system. I didn't believe God could possibly be pleased with any musical offering I brought, because of how imperfect a person I am. And I thought this about everyone, not just myself. So many times, after being in a time of corporate worship I would think, "Why do we even do this? I mean, I know in the Bible it says we're supposed to sing to God, but I don't get why. Why would a holy, perfect God want me or any of us to sing to Him? He's got the whole world at His fingertips yet somehow I'm supposed to believe He enjoys hearing us sing?"
Thanksgiving 2012 is where I can pinpoint God beginning to change my view of worship through music. I had been listening to a podcast of a sermon series by Louie Giglio that was about anxiety. There are 3 sermons in the series and they are fantastic. The last one though, is my favorite. Louie shared a story from 2 Chronicles 20. Read the whole story here. Seriously, read it. The Israelites are facing destruction and God tells them they will not need to fight. They need only position themselves properly and watch the salvation of the Lord. So, in order to position themselves properly, they had a choir go before their army, singing praises to God. Spoiler alert, God did fight for them, they didn't have to lift a finger, and they were delivered. What is so interesting though, is that they had a choir go before them. They were reminding themselves of who God is, what He had done, praising and thanking Him for all He did and would do. And because of it, they were delivered.
The most interesting concept to me in this story is that if they just believed God, and in believing, do what He told them to do, He would fight for them. What I've been learning about praising God is that when we do, we are reminded of who He is. We're reminded of His promises. We are ingraining them into our minds when we sing them. What you tell yourself over and over again, you start to believe. So, if we are singing the praises of God over and over again, we're actually going to start believing that He is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do. When we believe, we do. When we don't, we won't. It's as simple as that.
So, when the Psalmist writes that God is seated on a throne of praise, he doesn't mean that if we praise God, He will be enthroned. God is already enthroned. He doesn't need our praise to put Himself there. No, when we praise God, we put Him and ourselves into the right position. Him onto the throne of our lives, and ourselves at His feet in humble adoration and surrender. When we acknowledge God as being on the throne of our lives, we have no other response but to love.
2 weeks ago I experienced the Holy Spirit moving something inside of me. Freeing me to praise God. Praising God has become something fresh and beautiful for me. I'm not living any longer in the shame of believing that He couldn't possibly be pleased with the sacrifice of praise that I bring to Him. Yes, I will still have tendencies to fall into that thought pattern. But now I know. I know that God wants to hear me praise Him because He knows that when I do, I will be humbled into the correct posture, opening up my heart to the work of His hands that He wants to perform in my life.
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