​In light of the past week and the events that have transpired, God has put a song on my heart that I feel compelled to share.  This whole year has been a unique one for our country.  We’ve experienced pressure from every side:  economic, social, racial, political, and spiritual.  So many things have felt like they’re spinning out of control.  However, our God is still in control and we need to remember that.  

​Today, we are going to conclude our worship set focusing on God’s faithfulness through the storms of life and the fact that even in the fire and life’s hardest moments, God is always with us.  Over the last seven months, we have watched our nation spiral into chaos and division.  The increased pressure caused by COVID-19 brought to light points of high tension across our country.  Therefore, in the midst of all the unrest, tragedy, conflict, polarization, and loss, I believe that today’s song is especially appropriate for us to focus on and declare to ourselves, our families, and our communities.

​Do you feel alone?
 
One of the biggest lies Satan tries to get us to believe is that we’re all alone in life.  Despair, depression, anxiety, and fear can come crashing into our lives if we believe this lie from the enemy, and he’d like nothing better than to ruin our day.  Therefore, he whispers this deception into our souls and impresses it on our minds and heart, and all too often we start to believe the lies he’s feeding us.

Over the last several years, it has felt like tragedy upon tragedy has hit mankind.  Violence and natural disasters are yearly occurrences; now add COVID into the mix, and it’s been an extra difficult year.  As a northern California resident, I am reminded daily of the trials people face as I look out onto a smoky world and watch ash swirl around in the air.  Fires, floods, storms, tornados, pandemics, illness, financial loss, death.  Life is difficult.  Our world is mired with difficulty, and trials come on every side.  However, we don’t have to navigate life’s hardships on our own, and today’s song is a great reminder that there is always someone beside us as we face the hardships in life.

​Anxiety is a really big thing in this broken world, and this year has been riddled with this uneasy feeling.  While some people experience anxiety and stress to different degrees, from major panic attacks to a slight unsettled feeling, we’ve all had moments with lack of peace.  A lack of calm assurance and trust to step out of the boat and onto the water in the midst of the storm with our eyes fixed on Jesus.  

​As Americans, we live in a culture of low commitment.  People change jobs as easily as they change wardrobes, and relationship changes happen even faster.  Few young people stay in the area they grew up, either moving around for college, work, or adventure.  Most marriages are ending in divorce, many are not even getting married, and it is getting harder and harder to find people who will commit to ministry, church, or really anything.  Many of us have experienced the sting of being forsaken and abandoned by friends, leaders we looked up to, and people we have trusted.  However, the good news today is that God has never forsaken us, and He never will!

​Happy July 1st!  As Americans, we are getting ready to celebrate our nation’s birthday and the freedom upon which it was built.  July 4th is a monumental day is many ways.  However, no human organization is perfect, and we have seen our nation’s shortcomings in many ways these past few months.  Yet the truth is that true freedom is only found in Christ.  We cannot manufacture or guarantee it as a people, government, organization, or movement.  Only Jesus Christ can give it to us.  Therefore, as we celebrate freedom this weekend, I want to bring our attention to the freedom we have in Christ by sharing a worship song on this topic.

​We are at the end of June.  How the time has flown by these last couple of months!  It seems that even with the sheltering and chaos in our world, time keeps marching on at a blinding pace.  But God is still sovereign.  And as we hurtle through time and space—drawing ever nearer to Christ’s return—I have a worship song for us that will remind us of God’s faithfulness and the fact that though our world is changing, our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Welcome to another week on “Here I Am to Worship”! I hope you were able to catch the powerful message I shared with you last week from Passion City Church.  Worship is an important part of our Christian walk.  Therefore, understanding and learning how to do it well is vital to walking in the abundant fullness of God’s intended design.  So I hope you were challenged to offer to God an extravagant, unrestrained response to His goodness in your life through worship. 

​We’re living in crazy times.  Just when we thought things couldn’t get much worse, they did.  However, in the midst of the crazy, in the middle of the uncertainty and chaos, we have a refuge we can run to.  Proverbs 18:10 assures us that, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”  Therefore, as we face a season where fear and anger abounds, let us run to our place of safety, the name of the Lord.