Everything

There is a song at the end of this entry that sparked the title of the blog entry and indeed got me to put the scripture reference above.  If you read the rest of Psalm 103 and consider what the Lord does for His people and how He expresses His character even despite their frailties it highlights why a brother would break out in songs of thanksgiving for all that God is and does in life.

Pondering on that thought as well as letting the song sink in over a number of hearings leads me back through the corridor of my life to that time when worship took on a more heartfelt significance to me.  I had really been doing a head and behaviour thing when it came to relating to the things of God like the rituals and routines that Christianity can involve.  Thankfully, however, there are always those occasions in life that challenge the beliefs in life in the effort to put in place solid foundations on which to live.

I was in a place where home comforts were far away and regular church attendance at a local congregation was not possible.  In this place despite Christian paraphernalia being easily available, it was really about something far more real, something far more personal, something spiritual in nature and in expression.

At this place although words and songs came readily to mind to sustain a relationship with God there was something far deeper that drew me closer to God – more than reading and singing and thinking and talking could ever fully bring about.  That which captured the will, emotions and thoughts and geared them God-wards that fundamentally changed my life.  I only realised later on that this was the beginning of the journey in understanding worship for what it is and how such a heart and desire is not something brought about by force of my will or honest intentions, but an external job done from within that changes my desires and my will and for whatever I go through allows me to realise that without God I am nothing.  This also helps me realise that if everything is done for His glory and if He really is the focus of my entire life then He truly becomes my everything.

That journey into the heart of worship is continual and there are distractions and pitfalls deliberately placed in the effort to get us off of that particular track, especially when my issue and my business is severely affected.  At those times it is easy to forget who is everything and get mired in the things that will eventually become nothing.  Thus I am glad for songs like thing that relates back again to what is the the heart and definition of worship – where without God I am nothing and He is everything.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd