Tag: worship

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Trusting in the Fabric of His Plan

Exodus 15:20 (ESV)—Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.

Throughout San Juan, music flows through the doors of restaurants and bars. Music pours from speakers the residents carry.

At one point, while I sat with my husband at an outdoor tea and coffee kiosk, one customer’s speaker played soft guitar strains and Latin beats flowed from another’s. And after visiting for a few days, I realized that music blending together in the streets is part of the island’s fabric of the life.

In several parts of the Bible, dancing due to victories over enemies is part of the fabric of life. Take, for example, the prophet Miriam’s song and dance in Exodus 15:20: “Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing.”

However, as charming as this scene is, her dancing didn’t come immediately. First, she had to learn to trust God with her troubles. For instance, Miriam learned the hard way that God appointed his servant Moses. Her attempt at gaining more power ended in leprosy and seven days of banishment from the Israelite camp (Numbers 12).

Better the former than the latter, right? Well, we can’t have one without the other.

Our relationship with him involves both troubles in our lives and trust in his blend of music for our lives. His love for us comes in comfort and peace during trials. It comes in the form of encouragement from family and friends. For these situations, we can still worship by bowing down in humility to the One who has designed for us a plan.

Indeed, not every situation is going to make us want to dance. But some are, and for these, God deserves our raised hands, our songs of praise, our bodies swaying to the fabric of his plan.

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Following the God Who Saves

Daniel 3:26 (ESV)—Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.

Hand wrapped around a yellow Neutrogena bottle, I squeezed and thick, white lotion spurted into my hand. Slathered on, the lotion formed a transparent white smear on my legs, and I danced to the water to cool my sand-scorched toes.

After a while, I returned to the shore, slapping on more SPF 50. Only this time, sunscreen mixed with sand, leaving a gritty layer on my skin and, later, the realization I’d missed a spot and gained a touch of sunburn on my left foot.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon offered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego a sunscreen of sorts: worship his golden idol to avoid death in a furnace. The three Hebrew men had to choose to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s god and live or to stay faithful to their God and face death. A temporary measure, for sure, given this king’s past threats on these men’s lives (read Daniel 1).

Did they apply the offered sunscreen to protect themselves from the king’s threats? No. They chose the only surefire method of coming out without a touch of sunburn: God. The men refused to worship any other god and the king ordered them thrown into a fire hot enough to kill the men who delivered them to the furnace.

These men, when faced with death, did not apply the sunscreen of living in the shadow of an earthly king; they chose to live in the light of the true God. Their walking out of the fire without even singed hair or a whiff of smoke on their bodies proved God’s power even to Nebuchadnezzar (who, may I add, still tried to display his own power by threatening to kill anyone who spoke against God).

Indeed, God’s power protects better than the threats of any earthly king, greater than any protection we try to apply to ourselves. God offers us the only fail-proof protection. He gives us as his followers “great salvation” and “shows [us] steadfast love” (2 Samuel 22:51), better than any SPF that fades with time.

And like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we can walk into the fire without fear and come out as a shining example of God’s power to overcome any trial. Who needs sunscreen when we follow the God who saves?

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Traveling Toward Jesus

Matthew 2:2 (ESV)—“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Silhouette of pine trees against a deep blue sky with stars and northern lights

When I travel, I usually have a destination in mind. Hotel booked. Tickets purchased. Stops along the route planned. Only once have my husband and I traveled in a random direction with no plan.

I imagine the Wise Men didn’t have their trip planned. They set their eyes on the star and “traveled afar,” as the song says. And they journeyed with their only plan being to worship baby Jesus, the king of the Jews.

In my life, I often have to metaphorically travel toward Jesus. I fall out of practice in reading my Bible and have to start again. I forget to pray about big decisions and a day later ask for God’s forgiveness for not coming to him first and I seek his guidance. I feel anxiety and have to read Bible verses to remind myself of God’s greatness.

No matter my physical, mental, or emotional state, the star of Jesus shines bright as a guiding point. The star leads me to a place of worship, the destination where I can sit at the cross in God’s mercy and glory.

I encourage you to travel toward Jesus today. If you feel lost, if you feel ecstatic, if you feel torn up or some other emotion, repeat this verse and say, “I have come to worship him.”

I pray your Christmas season is full of worship!