Happy Friday!
Hoping that you are gearing up for a fun-filled weekend with family to celebrate the 4th of July! How did it get to be July already????
So, some of you may know that I’m reading a WONDERFUL Book by Beth Guckenberger called Start With Amen. (YOU CAN FIND IT HERE)
In Chapter 8, Beth shares a story about a worship experience in Mexico.
“I was spending the day in a marginalized community in Mexico. I had with me twenty or so visitors, and I was trying to train their eyes on the unseen. I told them, “Don’t look at the houses around you. Look instead at their relationships. Don’t ask about food, about how much or how well they’re fed. Ask about provision.”
“This day, however, we were focused on the exchange, on balancing the equation by not giving without receiving. I told them we do a disservice when we give and don’t take. That might seem counterintuitive, but when we give and don’t receive, we subtly say, “You have nothing to offer me.” (And I get away with holding you at arm’s length). It was a beautiful day of tender and vulnerable leaning in, culminating in a worship service.” -Beth Guckenberger
Wow. Have you ever thought about that statement…
“When we give and don’t receive, we subtly say -‘You have nothing to offer me.’
The truth of the matter is, the only thing worth offering, we can ALL have in abundance, when we are bound to our Savior.
The idea that I might extend the message of worthlessness due to circumstance or status hit me hard. I know that in my pride, I often deny help, when accepting it is always a win-win for all involved. I often “decide” that the person wanting to help, already has too much on their plate without thinking through the possibility that God has assigned them to the task with good reason. In fact, I do exactly what I accuse others of doing to me…stealing joy.
As we give, we extend what has been extended to us; fulfilling our purpose to love others the way Christ has commissioned. As we receive, we are allowing that call to be completed, receiving provision from the hand of God. Win win.
This story of worship that Beth shares leaves me with the most beautiful image…of coming before the Lord with all you have, with every expectation of meeting Him, heart to heart. And bringing others along!
The analogy of the elephant brought it home for me. Corporate worship has a great purpose, one that completes (forgive my reference) the CIRCLE OF LIFE. As we come to the Lord He desires for us to bring others along…to lead our fellow elephants to the well of living water, like the bull…
“Bull elephants release a subsonic sound when they find water. This sound is detectable within a thirty-mile radius. Humans can’t hear it, but elephants can, and they come in response to the call. Once gathered, the elephants naturally begin to tramp on the ground, aware that water is below the surface. As they stomp together, a phenomenon called liquefaction occurs. It’s a scientific concept explaining how the vibration loosens the soil, liquefies the sand, and creates a collapse of the ground that eventually forms a sinkhole full of water. The elephants literally tap into the water table.
With every respect to my fellow worshippers, it felt like the first woman who raised her voice signaled to the rest of us she had found water. As we moved toward her and sensed the water she was promising, the noise got louder, and the ground eventually gave way until we, like elephants, tapped into the living water source and all drank freely.” -Beth Guckenberger
I want to worship like the elephant! Leading others to the well.
Thank you Beth! I’ll never look at an elephant without thinking of the well of Worship!
In Him,
)
1Arthouse 