Grumble. Joy. Grumble.

Grumble.  Complain.  I’m so tired of snow.  I’m sick of this weather.  No power.  No water.  Everyone I know is sick.  My car is in the ditch – again.  I’m so ready for spring.  My heating bills are through the roof.  I’m going to go crazy if the kids don’t go to school soon!  My life is just a mess.  Grumble.  Grumble.  Complain.  Complain.

I’ve heard every one of these statements in the past few weeks.  Some I’ve even said.  Where’s the joy?  Where’s the worship?  Since when is it okay to let circumstances rob us of our joy?  If our joy is that easily stolen, then we probably need to check the source.  Oh we say, in our best Christianese, God is the source of my joy.  Sure he is, as long as he is acting like our “genie in a bottle” and granting us all our wishes for a nice, easy, healthy, bountiful life.

Our walk, isn’t matching our talk.

Social media has removed so many filters.  Without personal, face-to-face interaction, we do and say things that we might not otherwise.  Let’s think about it.  One day, we post Christian quotes, scripture, and links to Christian news stories.  The next day, we are grumbling and complaining about something going on in our lives.  Suddenly the God whom we praised yesterday, is suddenly no longer giving us peace and joy.  We’ve decided our complaints trump our praise.  What changed?  God?  Of course not.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The only thing that changed was our circumstances.

God is deserving of all our praise and worship whether it is 82 degrees and sunny or 10 below with a foot of snow on the ground.  God is deserving of all our praise and worship whether you have $30,000  in the bank or if your account is overdrawn.  God is deserving of all our praise and worship whether everyone you know is happy and healthy or if strife and disease are wearing them down.  God is deserving of all our praise and worship.

We’ve made comfort and convenience our idols.

I heard a song this weekend that really struck me and made me think of all the idols in our lives and what we really worship.  In Jimmy Needham’s “Clear the Stage”, some of the lyrics go like this: (You can click the link below to hear the full song)

Take a break from all the plans that you have made

And sit at home alone and wait for God to whisper

Beg Him please to open up His mouth and speak

And pray for real upon your knees until they blister

Shine the light on every corner of your life

Until the pride and lust and lies are in the open

Then read the Word and put to test the things you’ve heard

Until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken

We must not worship something that’s not even worth it

Clear the stage, make some space for the One who deserves it

’cause I can sing all I want to

Yes, I can sing all I want to

I can sing all I want to

And still get it wrong

And you can sing all you want to

Yes, you can, you can sing all you want to

You can sing all you want to

And still get it wrong; worship is more than a song

Worship is more than a song

Worship is more than a song.  It is how we live our lives.  It is everything we do.  It is everything we say.  It is how we react to every situation and every circumstance.

Comfort and convenience are two of my biggest idols.  Yours too?

Can I encourage you to watch your words in the coming days?  Will you think twice before you speak and before you post and only give room for praise? Your circumstances may or may not change but I have a sneaking suspicion that your joy will.  I think you will be abounding in joy when you only give way to praise, no matter the circumstances!

Will you hold me accountable in this?  If you hear me grumble or complain, or if I’m grumbling in a post, will you remind me also to only make room for praise?  Thanks for that!

Let’s use our words to give praise and worship to God, the ultimate source of our joy and crush those idols of comfort and convenience!