By Bill Piatt
Editor’s Note: My dear friend and ministry partner Bill Piatt helps us refocus our hearts today in the midst of a longer-than-expected and especially longer-than-wanted pandemic. With life swirling all around us – and sometimes kids, animals, and technology – Bill helps us remember how to focus our mind and heart on what truly matters. This will bless and help you.
Easter Sunday without traditional corporate worship! What a disappointment for so many of us! With the extra burdens, disappointments, pressures, and variables in our lives right now, what am I to do during this time? How about refocusing my heart for worship?
Understanding Worship
Worship is a reflection or expression of the reality of my love, devotion, respect, adoration of God.
True worship begins on the inside and is based on the truth about God (John 4:23-24). He is utterly holy; absolutely sovereign; covenant faithful; and active in my daily life.
Worship in its highest form is evidenced in obedience to God and His Word (John 14:15).
God’s concern throughout Scripture is that my outward expressions be consistent with my heart devotion (Matthew 15:8,9). God’s purpose for allowing pressured situations is to build in me the character of Christ (James 1:2,3; Romans 8:28-29); therefore, every frustration (trial, pressured situation, disappointment) is an opportunity to worship. Every situation or occasion that grabs my attention becomes an opportunity for me to check my heart devotion. Great questions you can ask in any moment are:
- What am I desiring at this moment?
- What am I treasuring?
- Who should I be loving and treasuring most?
- What response will honor Christ the most?
- How can I worship God in this moment?
God is Sovereign and Good. How can I express that as I move through the situations of the day? How will trusting God look as I prepare my thoughts, words, and actions in response to some circumstance?
Refocusing my heart for worship means that I recognize God’s opportunities to adore and praise Him.
Every circumstance offers me opportunity to practice faith, trust, and demonstrate love for Him. Every reminder of uncertainty becomes an opportunity to remind myself that God is indeed Sovereign and that His purposes are always good even when I do not sense these realities.
My personal worship is reflected in the way I respond to those news reports, that disruptive child, that bored teen, that frustrating spouse, that disrespectful person, that bill in the mail, that cough that persists, uncertainties in health, loneliness, more tasks that can be completed in the time frame allotted, too few tasks to fill the day, having my spouse around more than usual, not having my spouse around as usual, and the list is endless. Individual worship is more than just the time I spend praising and reflecting on Him after I have read some article, or passage. It is seeing those life situations as divine opportunities instead of intrusions and distractions. It is seeing God working actively in my life daily, hourly, moment by moment. It is this kind of individual worship that I can focus on during these times.
About the Author:
Bill is a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Mary Ann, a father to two adult children, a granddad to six, and great granddad to eleven. He worships and serves as the director of biblical counseling at Sonrise Baptist Church in Ozark, MO, is an adjunct faculty member at Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Springfield, MO, and is a church planter. Bill also serves as an ACBC Fellow, is IABC certified, leads a biblical counseling training center, and regularly counsels. Over the years, he has served as a counselor for many pastors, missionaries, their families, and other Christian workers.
I am grateful he is my brother, friend, and colleague.
Image Credit Oladimeji Ajegbile
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