Secrets of Cheerful Living | From Worry to Worship
It was a regular Wednesday morning, and I was sitting on an airplane. I cracked open my worn Bible for my daily reading. I popped in my earphones and Sean Currant’s voice flooded in my ears, “You are worthy! Worthy of your name- Jesus, no other name!”
Chills spread across my arms as the words filtered from my ears, into my head and even further into my heart. Suddenly, instead of being on a plane leaving Charleston, as I closed my eyes, I felt like I was in the very throne room of God. I was reminded that right then, in that very moment, angels and saints filled the throne room in heaven and sang “Worthy!” to our God. In that moment, I felt as if I was able to agree with the voices in the throne room. In light of worship, the to-do list that had swirled through my head all morning and seemed overwhelming just a few minutes before, melted away. This transformed my regular Wednesday morning as “my light and momentary troubles paled in comparison to the eternal weight of glory” that I was reminded of in such a real way (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Worship helps us to live cheerfully.
What is worship? Some would define it as attending church on Sunday, others would say it’s singing and they’re not into that. My pastor, Bob Rambo, said something a few Sundays ago that stuck with me, “While worship is definitely personal, it is not private.” I couldn’t agree with him more. So worship is personal, but not private- How does that work? I was able to worship God on an airplane in a very personal moment, so what is the balance? The regular practice of attending collective worship in my life is the avenue in which I am in the practice of connecting with God personally through Worship. A large portion of our generation has shifted to watching church online. Why not? You can probably hear a better sermon than you can in your local church. If the pastor says something you don’t agree with, you can change to another pastor. I can stay in my pajamas and eat breakfast while watching church. Friends, I believe in online ministry. I think there is great work being done online and through live-stream. But I do not believe that it can replace our corporate worship. God, in his very nature, is community. And we were created to be in community together, to worship God together.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas give us a great example of collective worship in an interesting circumstance. Let’s read together:
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.
Acts 16: 22-26
I don’t know about you, but if I had just been beaten and severely flogged, I don’t think that I would be up at midnight singing hymns. We often have the false impression that we need to be happy in order to worship. In reality, worship is the avenue that our minds can be transformed or renewed. Paul and Silas were able to be cheerful even in the worst situation. How can worship be a secret to cheerful living in any circumstance? What are you filling your mind with? How is that affecting your attitude? Your joy? Your anxiousness?
Paul gives us a prescription for having a cheerful attitude later on in his letter to the Philippians,
“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8.
Our worry is connected to our worship. When we are faced with what seems like an impossible situation, is it worry or worship that fills our mind? Worry robs us of cheerfulness and joy. Worry makes us short tempered and stressed out. Worship reminds us that we are not alone and that we have something to celebrate, even in the hardest times. Paul and Silas’ worship elicited a response from God. He threw open the chains that were holding them in bondage and allowed their worship made an eternal impact on a whole family. Let’s read on...
27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
Acts 16: 27-34
An entire household came to know Jesus because Paul and Silas chose to worship instead of worry. Their worship acknowledged their belief that God was in control of their situation. How is our attitude and mindset of worship impacting those around us? How are we allowing worship to transform our minds, to remind us of the hope we have, even in the most difficult situations? Let’s let worship, both collective and personal, become a steady practice in our lives. Let’s allow God to transform our worry into worship and let’s watch the impact that will have on our cheerfulness that we share with others.
Prayer: Jesus, when worry creeps in and tries to steal our thoughts may we replace it with worship. It sounds simple, but we know it is very challenging. We ask for help from your Holy Spirit to transform our thoughts to what is true, noble, right, pure, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy, help us to think of these things today. We submit our minds and our hearts to you this day. Amen.
Check out one of my new favorite worship songs! It’s paints an amazing picture of the Gospel. Let what God has done for us through giving us His Son Jesus impact the way we live today.
King of Kong’s by Hillsong Worship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQl4izxPeNU
