A Change of Seasons…and I don’t mean Winter into Spring

My favorite part of any church service is the worship part. Hands down, it’s my favorite way to connect with God.  The combination of spirit-filled lyrics, a catchy beat and the high energy of a room full of Jesus lovers is the ultimate high. But what happens when the lights come on, your ear isn’t next to the pumping speakers and no one is sitting next to you? Little did I know, I was about to find out.

Let me back up a little. I’ve been saved for 5 years as of a week ago. I spiritually “grew up” in the youth group of my old church. First as a girl who had a crush on a guy in the worship band. Then as the girlfriend of the guy in the worship band. Then as the married girl who ran the dance ministry. Then as a youth leader to the younger youth group. And lastly as a young adult group active member/assistant leader of a new dance ministry. So needless to say (or maybe not), the past 5 years my idea of worship has centered around bands, loud music, concerts, weekend events like Battle Cry and The Revolve Tour, conferences, dance presentations and being in the front row surrounded by people my age spiritually raised the same way. Can you relate?

Well fast forward to the new Jess…the married, pregnant girl in a new church surrounded by people of all different ages who know nothing about her. It’s a weird place to be in! But yesterday God spoke to me about it and I’m positive this isn’t a message just for myself. So listen up!

Due to the warmth of a packed room with lights and sound galore, my pregnant body decided my usual worship atmosphere that I love so much wasn’t going to be in my norm anymore. Instead, I spent the entire church service seated in the downstairs cafe surrounded by youth leaders updating the church twitter feed, babies with their parents, older people who think the music upstairs is too loud and a few random people walking in and out to work at the ministry fair. I wasn’t too thrilled with baby Charlotte doing this to me lol. I thought to myself “how can I get into worship in this quiet room where the music is played through speakers and service is on a screen while I sit with my feet up on a chair while I sip my tea? Everyone upstairs is experiencing God together and I’m down here lounging. How is this any different than the people who don’t go to church but watch it on TV? I’m going to have to work extra hard to hear from God on my own time because church as a new mom isn’t going to be what I need it to be.”

And then I think God had enough of me. Because I immediately knew I had to shut my thoughts up, close my eyes, and learn to worship in a different way. And let me tell you, it took me a whole 5 minutes to figure out my problem. My problem was that I thought worship was the music, the excitement, the atmosphere and God….but I quickly learned that worship is an attitude and a condition of the heart above all else. It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a cafe or if you’re on a stage in front of thousands of people. God WILL speak to you and you CAN love Him and worship Him and praise Him from anywhere at anytime. And to be honest, since I was comfortable, I think God was able to reach me more easily than He has in a while. I was open to every word being spoken. I slowly got over the strangeness of raising my hands while sitting in a cafe with a handful of people and I look forward to many more services with my feet on a chair and a nice breeze passing through the room. And the funniest part? When the pastor tells the church body to stand to their feet, everyone downstairs does it too. When it’s time to pray, they pray too. Everything going on upstairs, goes on downstairs as well. It’s a different atmosphere, but it’s the same heart.

And God did answer my question: How is this any different than the people who don’t go to church but watch it on TV? The difference is that I was still a part of the church. After service ended Chris and I got to meet the pastors sitting downstairs at the table next to us who then introduced us to people they thought we’d be interested in meeting. We were able to love on others even more than if we were upstairs in a crowded room where we didn’t know how to meet people. In the end, there was nothing different about service downstairs except that it’s where I’m called to be right now.

So what should you get out of this? You should learn that worship is not about where you are, it’s about who you are. And to never think that God can’t speak to you or use you just because your situation has changed. There are many seasons in life and unfortunately, when a new season begins we have a tendency to fight it, challenge it, fear it and question God. But the truth is, without seasons, life would be very stale, boring and predictable. So wherever you are in life and your walk with God, enjoy your season. Whether it’s the beginning, middle or end, just know, it may change…and God will be there to help you transition through it. Just be open to it.