52/444 Healing from Infidelity: Gratitude and Worship
2011.10.27
Ben:
We talked about gratitude humbling us, which allowed us to more fully experience being delighted in by God. In turn our response was one of worship. One way to look at worship is as a combination of awe and thanksgiving (gratitude). Awe for me was knowing that God is God and I'm not. He's big, vast, huge, enourmous, gigantic, immense, cosmic, infinite, immeasurable, incalculable, and limitless (my thesaurus finally ran out).
But not only am I in awe of his transcendance, I'm grateful for His intimate relationship with me. In his song, Nothing is Beyond You, Rich Mullins uses imagery from Psalm 139 to Illustrate God's extraordinary pursuit of us for intimacy,
Where could I go, where could I run
Even if I found the strength to fly
And if I rose on the wings of the dawn
And crashed through the corner of the sky
If I sailed past the edge of the sea
Even if I made my bed in Hell
Still there You would find me
'Cause nothing is beyond You
You stand beyond the reach
Of our vain imaginations
Our misguided piety
The heavens stretch to hold You
And deep cries out to deep
Singing that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
Time cannot contain You
You fill eternity
Sin can never stain You
Death has lost its sting
And I cannot explain the way You came to love me
Except to say that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
If I should shrink back from the light
So I can sink into the dark
If I take cover and I close my eyes
Even then You would see my heart
And You'd cut through all my pain and rage
The darkness is not dark to You
And night's as bright as day
Nothing is beyond You
You stand beyond the reach
Of our vain imaginations
Our misguided piety
The heavens stretch to hold You
And deep cries out to deep
Singing that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
And time cannot contain You
You fill eternity
Sin can never stain You
And death has lost its sting
And I cannot explain the way You came to love me
Except to say that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You Nothing is beyond You
God's love is unexplainable in so many ways.
Worship isn't just church on Sunday morning when we're singing. There is worship in the ordinary things of life. God shows himself in the changing of the seasons, in the first snowfall and he shows himself in the way my wife takes care to leave the mashed potatoes just a little lumpy for me. God is also grand and can't be missed. His majesty is revealed in Colorado mountains, oceans and seas and gazing up into the starlit sky while driving in my convertible. It's best to actually be the passenger when looking straight up in the sky.
Relationship with God has become more real. It's more a 24/7 deal. I can't earn his love. I can't do more to be more loved by Him. It's more about being in his presence, being aware of his delight, allowing myself to be embraced by His love and experiencing an exhilirating freedom that releases the Spirit in me in new ways.