The Front Lines

This past weekend I was scheduled to sing on a vocal team at my church.  Normally this is something I really look forward to.  For some reason this week I didn't feel the same sense of joy or excitement about it...in fact the whole weekend leading up to Sunday I struggled with feelings of depression and lack of motivation.  I know many who struggle with similar difficulties and am no stranger to a bad day...but this was different then anything I've experienced before.  I got up on Sunday morning just hoping to get through the day.  As I drove into the church parking lot that morning, I heard the Lord say "pray against depression this morning.  Pray for those who feel like you do.  Who are struggling to even get up and come to church today.   Those who feel hopeless and weary and tired.    Those who need joy".   And so I did...before each service I prayed.   And during worship I sang from a place on intervention for anyone in the room without the strength to sing or pray for themselves.  As people came forward during prayer time I asked the Lord to bring freedom and joy back to someone who had lost it.  To restore hope and energy to someone feeling hopeless and empty.  I prayed for healing from the weight of despair.  Unsure of who, but knowing the Lord knew.  Knowing that was enough.     I left church still feeling a sense of dread.     I arrived home and sat in the driveway.....waiting.    waiting for a shift in my own heart. Waiting for the weight to lift.   Weighting for a feeling of peace.    Finally I got out of the car and walked inside bracing myself for the rest of the day and within minutes it was as though the Lord reached down and lifted a huge weight off of me.  As though all of a sudden my whole world shifted.   Suddenly I felt complete peace.    Suddenly I felt unspeakable joy.   Suddenly, in that moment I knew exactly what the  Lord had done.    He had healed someone.   He had brought someone out of darkness.    And He allowed me to experience the whole thing so that I would be able to intercede....to press in, for that person, from within the trenches.     I spent the rest of the evening laughing....smiling, filled with such joy and rest.    Humbled that He would use me in such a way.   I keep praying for that person, whoever they are.   That they would continue to walk in hope and joy.   That they would continue to experience the Lord's presence.    And so thankful that we serve a God who loves us that much.          

Worship is so much more then song.  It is warfare and we are on the front lines when we praise Him.    I am thankful for this reminder.  I am thankful for the Lords grace.  

David said it best...

Psalm 29:

1

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,

    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2 

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

    worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness.

3 

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

    the God of glory thunders,

    the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

4 

The voice of the Lord is powerful;

    the voice of the Lord is majestic.

5 

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

    the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

6 

He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,

    Sirion[b] like a young wild ox.

7 

The voice of the Lord strikes

    with flashes of lightning.

8 

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;

    the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

9 

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks[c]

    and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

10 

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

    the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

11 

The Lord gives strength to his people;

    the Lord blesses his people with peace.