Why Do You Worship Him?

I know that it has been a while since I have blogged. We have just wrapped up the busiest 2 months of this year for us. The rest of the summer should have a slower pace and it looks like we will actually get to have a vacation! The last vacation that we had was 3 days in the Bahamas after our mission trip to Cuba. Now, if I reflect on that mission trip, it would be a blog in of itself. So, I will save that for another day. This will be the first vacation that we have taken that is not connected to some other ministry trip since 2003. So exciting!

As I said, our summer has been very hectic and busy so far. We have traveled all over the place and have met a lot of new and interesting people. Even though it can be tiring, I cannot imagine that I would do anything else with my life. The ability to travel so much and to meet so many believers is a true blessing. I love to see how others worship God and find great comfort in the fact that someone who 50, 500, or even 5000 miles away worships the same God as I do and are learning and studying the same scriptures as I am! It makes me feel connected to something that is bigger than me. It helps me to understand the Bride of Christ in a deeper and more meaningful way. Such a diverse group of people!

But even in the diversity there are challenges that transcend location, ethnicity, gender and list goes on. What the Father has been saying to my heart lately is a reminder that we need to evaluate from the time to time WHO we worship. Yes, when posed with the question, many of us are quick to say it is God whom we worship. That is what I would say and those of you who are reading this blog who are believers would most likely answer the same way. But if we are honest with ourselves, is it true?

Do we worship God for who He is? I mean, He is the Great I Am. Before anything, He was and is and will be. He is the Ancient of Days and our creator. He is worthy of our adoration and praise. After all, we were created to worship him. Do we worship Him alone? Do we worship Him no matter what? In the good and the bad? Or do we worship Him for the good times or for the blessings that He has given us? Have we forgotten to worship Him just because He is worthy?

The reason this whole issue has come up for me is in the discussions that I have had with people in our travels for Chosen People Ministries. Often people will be compelled to share a prayer request or a praise report with us. It is an awesome blessing to have people share their lives with us. But sometimes people share their disappointment with God for not meeting their needs or desires. And sometimes they share that they haven't been going to services or haven't prayed in years because of those disappointments.

Now I understand that sometimes horrible things happen. And most of us would cry out to God during these times for a solution to the problem, whether it be healing, provision, deliverance, etc. And we SHOULD cry out to Him. He is our loving Father and we should go to him with our every need and even our desires. But, if for some reason, He answers us differently than we expect and it doesn't turn out the way we had hoped, do we hold it against Him? Do we even blame Him? I know that I have in the past, have you? I think that Job said it best:

And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21