What a joyous thing worship is. It is the ability to combine lifting high the name of the Lord through the beauty of music. Allowing the gift of music, the pleasing sounds of both instruments and voices to fill our ears, and then to reciprocate that and direct it to the Lord of hosts. One of the best worshippers I have ever witnessed is my dear friend Gracie. Gracie is a senior in my youth group who has William’s disease. She is single handedly the biggest sweetheart I have ever met, who freely gives the gift of joy to others. It is physically impossible to look her in the eye while she is smiling, and not offer back a smile of your own.
Sometimes when I enter into a time of worship I can miss the privilege it truly is. I don’t intentionally focus on the love, redemption, power, and joy that is the Lord our God. Gracie however, never misses an opportunity to worship. As soon as that first guitar chord is strum, or the clicking of the drum sticks beings, Gracie knows. A smile spreads across her face, and her head begins to bob. Her short, tight curls stay perfectly in place as her head moves forward and back, perfectly in beat with the music. Worship is the greatest part of Gracie’s week, and this is very clear to those around her. She brings a new joy, a simple, perfect joy that is contagious. The congregation around her recognizes her joy, and joins in with smiles, and singing.
Her outward expression of joy is not limited to her smile, but her whole body. Knees bending, hands shaking, Gracie invents her own dance. With the beat of the music flowing through her, embracing worship with her whole being. Singing is not limited to mind, and soul, but whole mind, whole body, and whole soul. Though I attend a fairly free church, Gracie is consistently the only one dancing, but she doesn’t care. It’s not about who joins, its about her worshipping the way she was created to worship. Her own, unique, beautiful, fully engaging way.
When I mentioned earlier Gracie moves to the beat of the music it wasn’t just an expression. She has the most incredible sense of rhythm. She shows this in movement, and her clapping. One of the boys in my youth group is a phenomenal drummer in the band. He told me a story about how one time the monitors went out and he couldn’t hear the rest of the band. However, he was able to stay on beat by watching Gracie clap. Gracie has a booming clap, and when she starts, again, the whole congregation joins in. Typically, after she starts the clapping, she’ll stop and go back to her dance, but by then she doesn’t need to continue because the whole church is clapping, and the energy or worship has increased all because of one little girl.
Gracie reveals to me several things in worship. Every opportunity is a gift. Worship is
something that is habitual, but is always new. This is who our God is, always constant, but constantly revealing himself in new ways. Also, joy is contagious. When we come to the Lord recognizing the joy of the incarnation, the joy he has instilled in us, our outward appearance will reflect this genuine joy that others will take notice of and join in. The more I’m engaging in worship, physically and mentally, the more I am offering myself to the Lord, and the more easily it is to enter into his presence. Finally, faith is meant to be done together, and this includes worship. We feed off of each other’s energy. I can tell you, there are often times I’ve entered worship with a heavy heart, but when I recognize Gracie’s energy I am reminded of the goodness, love, redemption, and faithfulness of the Lord in all circumstances, and that is why he is worthy to be worship
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