Response

I have just recently, and am still experiencing, the first widespread disaster response in my time with Samaritan's Purse.  I am a member of what's known as our Donor Ministries Response Center, a team that serves our partners through our response to their inbound phone calls, emails and letters.  The past week has proven to been a roller coaster of emotions as we are currently receiving a week's worth of phone calls every day since the landfall of Hurricane Florence. We've received calls for prayer, calls for help, and calls from those looking to help by any means possible. 

Although this experience has been one of the most exhausting times of my career, it has also been the most rewarding. The folks that we get to interact with are the most loving, caring, understanding, joyful and obedient people that I have had the pleasure of speaking with. They have all been touched by the Spirit to pick the phone up to call Samaritan's Purse to assist us with the recovery efforts that God has called us to perform.  Bottom line, they are responding to what the Lord has done in each of their lives.

All of this got me thinking about how we respond in worship every Sunday morning. Worship, at least when it comes to music, is the outward expression of our adoration and devotion towards God...or as I discussed above, our response to Him. In John 4:23, the Bible says, "but the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."  Not only are we called to worship the Father, but we find that He is actually seeking our worship. Why? Because He is worthy to be praised!

We hear it echoed in song after song, phrases such as Selah's "You are worthy of all my praise", David Ruis' "I will give you all of my worship", Vertical Worship's "With hearts amazed and songs that never frame the fullness of your worth and majesty", and more recently in Hillsongs' "If the stars were made to worship, so will I". Things seem quite clear, we were created to respond to our Lord in worship. In fact, Luke 19:40 teaches us that if we don't give God the praise that He deserves, the rocks themselves will cry out. Now I don't know about you, but I don't want the rocks to have to do what I was designed to do.

Hillsong's "So Will I" goes on to proclaim - "If creation sings your praises, so will I." Let us always be prepared and ready to respond in worship. And if you don't know how at the time, just sing to the "One who never leaves the one behind!"

And if by some chance you have yet to hear this song, or felt the chills from its lyrics, here you go..

Scott