Hey People,
Im back. Well this week is a little different. I will not be writing
anything by myself, but I will be partnering with a friend of mine. I asked him
to write something and what he wrote blew me away. This week might be a little
long, but I encourage you too take time to read it all. Its important and we
need to realize how real these tips of thing are.Here it is.
I want to start off by telling you a story. This story is a
real life experience and touches on a moment of worship. I hope that somehow
you can relate.
It was a very strange
thing to see, its almost as if I were in a circus. There was so much going on
that I didn’t know what to do nor did I know what to look at. Was I suppose to
move a certain way? Was it strange if I just stood there. Did I need to sit
down like the guy beside me in awe. The music was loud, I could hear everything
they had to say, but at the same time I couldn’t understand any of
it. Honestly I never heard words put into lyrics in any way like this
before. Some people looked so happy with smiles brighter than the sun. Others
looked as if they just lost someone dear to them. I mean this wasn’t my
first time in a place like this, but it was the first time I experienced such
confusion. Time went by as the music played and slowly but surely the confusion
began to fade. Thoughts of joy would come and for the first time in months I
felt happy. You see the people around me didn’t know, but at home I was a mess.
At this moment though I felt something different. Something was upon me.
Something I've never experienced in my life. Just as soon as I felt that
joy upon myself I crashed. BOOM! In an instant I was done. The next thing
I know I was staring directly into the eyes of myself. Short clips of moments
in my life were haunting me . They ran through my mind like a motion blur.
Before I knew
it, I was swimming in my own tears. It happened. I caved in. I couldn’t take it
anymore. I didn’t want to be here,"why did I come here….this is so stupid”
My friends who
quite frankly, I hardly knew asked me what was wrong, “ Nothing, I replied I
just want to be alone… leave me alone”. I walked outside minutes passed and I
just started putting myself back together when a man came and sat beside me. It
was weird: he just sat there and didn’t say anything to me. I kept looking
at him waiting for some clever statement, but nothing. Finally I couldn’t take
it anymore and began asking this random guy questions he clearly wouldn’t know,
“Whats wrong with me? Why am I crying? Why is it so different here”. You
see at this point I was even more confused than ever. So many
questions lingered through my mind, but no answers were given. The man looked
at me and said, "can I pray for you”.I said yes and he did just that. He
said nothing fancy in his prayer, but something happened at that moment.
Something that made me want to go back in and sing along.So I walked back
into the room . The words became clear to me as I listened. I sang the words as
if I not only knew them, but I meant them and at this moment I felt like I was
singing with a purpose. A purpose to say thank you. I felt like I needed to
just talk , but not to someone beside me. Someone I couldn’t see. Someone I
knew was listening. Its at that moment I understood the circus that was in
front of me. For the first time I knew what it was like to be the guy who just
sat there in awe, for the first time I knew what it felt like to be happy for
no real apparent reason. For the first time I knew what It felt like to be the
person who looked as if they lost some one. it all came together. I experienced
worship.
Mahatma Gandhi said these words. Why he did I do
not know. Did he even believe in God? I do not know that either. All I know is
that I believe these words are truth, and it's funny when you find truths that
fit a season of your life so perfectly that you are reminded of the simple
truths you threw aside, until they come back to you in a way that makes you
have to fall on your knees and say "God why have I forsaken You!"
Worship through music is my calling in life. It is
what He made me to do. He made us all to worship Him with song, in reality, but
He's placed on my heart this certain passion with it. I've always believed and
felt that there is something powerful and amazing with music that we often
times forget. We watch a musical and secretly we all wish that we could break
out into song and sing as part of normal life, yet we fear that. I don't know
maybe that's just me, but I would bet it's not. I would bet that there is
something in each of us that desperately wishes that. And here is why.
This past two month has been difficult for me. Are my problems
of great importance or anything? No they aren't. They are silly and in eternal
view really have no effect on my eternity. Yet I am hurt, and to deny that hurt
would be to deny my true feelings and my true self. I can't deny that I feel
lonely, heartbroken, and lost. I can't ignore the fact that for the past season
of change I have felt simply this: meaningless. And then I was reminded of a
story I had told many times before.
It's the story of the man who died for me. You see, I was
walking down this road and as I walked I lived and did stuff to bring
gratification to my flesh. Stuff so disgusting and disturbing that I am to
ashamed to share. As I was walking and not paying attention I didn't realize
that as I was about to cross a street a car was headed right for me. In the
blink of an eye death was intimate. With it's black cape and sharp scythe, it
reached out its boney hand and was ready to take me. And then a man I had never
seen before jumped out and saved me. He wore nothing but scrubs and was gruff.
If you saw him you would not realize that he was a hero, a legend. I had heard
about him my whole life growing up but never thought I'd actually encounter
him, actually get to meet him. All I knew about him were the myths, the
stories. All I knew was his name. His name was Jesus.
It's an easy metaphorical way to look at it. You
might look at it and groan or read it and say that's stupid. But it's truth.
Jesus died for us. He saved us from the death we deserved. He took his place on
the cross where we belonged cause He loves us. And you've heard the story a
thousand times whether you are a Christian or not. But here is what You might
not have ever thought of or known (or at least I didn't).
When Jesus was on the cross, right before He dies he says
"my God my God, why have you forsaken me!" (Matthew 27:46). But did
you know that those exact words are also found elsewhere in the bible? Written
years before Jesus was even born. In Psalm 22 verse 1, David began a song with
the words "my God my God, why have you forsaken me". The Jews knew
this and they began to think Jesus was calling to Elijah.
You see, right before Jesus died He worshiped The
Lord through song. In His most desperate, lost, lonely, time when His body was
destroyed He sang songs of worship to The Father. How intense is that? Of what value does this up the
importance of singing. If this is the final act of Jesus before He died on the
cross, what does that say about the importance of singing? To me, it means it
is of the upmost importance.
So whether times are good or bad. Whether you feel on top of the
world or lost in the bottom of a black hole. Whether you are alone or in the
middle of a crowded mall. Whether you are at church or on the streets in some
bar. Do this: sing. For as Gandhi said, it is not superstitious. It is more
real of an act then any other we could ever do. It is what The Lord made us all
to do no matter how good or bad we sound. We were made to sing.
- David Stahlnecker
Singing is
worship, even to the point of death Jesus worshiped. How do you worship? Why is
it important to you?
Signed By,
A Man Chasing His Dreams
No comments:
Post a Comment