Leader in Worship

     I think all of us think of the worship leaders as the group of people on the stage singing, playing instruments, and delivering our Sunday morning worship services. As a teenager, I started thinking about something important to me I want to be a leader in worship. I love singing, I love dancing, but most importantly I love the Lord. I believe that those worship leaders on stage can definitely also be leaders in worship as well, but so can the people sitting in the chairs. 

    As a teenager, I worked up the courage to ask to be a part of the worship team, and I was told not right now with being a teenager. In high school, I was pretty active in my choir sometimes singing alone in front of my school. In college, I did choir as well. I have always felt more comfortable doing plays though because I did them at a young age. I have not asked to be a part of the worship team since and might consider asking again when I figure out what my plan is for church after graduation. However, I want to still be a leader in worship.

    Being a leader in worship involves always looking to the Lord, and dedicating each day to him. Sometimes it is easy to fall into the daily routine of going to school, going to work, hanging out with friends, doing homework, and trying to find some time to rest up. We may use that busyness as an excuse to not spend time in prayer or not spend time with the Lord. What about giving our first fruits to him? What does that require of us? I believe giving him our first fruits may not even be doing a 24-hour bible study, but rather bringing him into what we are doing. Do we think of the Lord, invite him into, our studying, our problems, or our friendships? I know that is something we can work on more. Being a leader in worship does not require perfection. I think of Peter as a great example of this where at one moment, he was sinking into the water after stepping out, the next moment denying knowing Jesus, and then at one time, he stands before the Sanhedrin declaring Jesus as Lord. Even in the sinking, he called out to the Lord. Even in our imperfections, we can call out to the Lord. 

    Junior year, I went through a lot of grief. I was worn out, struggling to even get up for class. I wanted nothing more than just to lay in bed all day staring at the ceiling, but here I was in 6 classes, having an internship and a job. I could not just lie down all day, I had a life to continue living. I did not know if I would get through the semester. This was also one of the lowest times in my faith other than freshman year. I remember times sitting in my car crying as I listened to Upperroom's song The Father's Song because I could not understand how God could be proud of me. 

"I'm so proud of you. You didn't run away when it got hard". 

Worshipping is more than singing a song on Sunday morning. Being a leader in worship involves our own pursuit of the Lord when going through a hard time. My own testimony of this difficult time was that I often saw that God was chasing after me more than I was of him. I saw this in my community that wrapped their arms around me during this time. I had times of people walking in on me crying, and just sitting with me. There was one friend's prayer that really convicted me and aided in changing my heart toward the situation. Being a leader in worship may not mean you are always at the "top of your game", but it may mean you go to God in your weakness. You also have people around you who help you get centered on the Lord when you are weak.

    Deeper worship is my focus for this year, and I think something I am growing in is my enjoyment of worship. That quiet time always showcased on Instagram with the millions of Bible highlighters does not have to be our time with the Lord. It could be part of it, but part of our time with him could be playing, dancing, or a nice walk. Our time with God does not have to be separated from the rest of our day either. I am not perfect in this, but I always try to read my Bible at work during my lunch. Not only has this helped me to recenter myself on God, but this has brought up conversations with my coworkers. I am also working on praying throughout the day and trying to engage with God throughout the day. 

    Being a leader in worship also means recognizing where we fall short. I would say the biggest thing for me would be distraction. I can get distracted by the work that needs to be done or I could distract myself by scrolling for hours. The other day, I did some watercolor painting of one person being empty in pursuit of worldly things, and one person being filled by the Living Water of the Lord. I would love to say that I was the person being filled, but I realized something I have always done when I painted: reach for distractions. Why is it so hard for me to just be in silence or rest? I am not as bad now, but I used to just reach for as many distractions as I could to not think on my own. Reaching for the next distraction was my way of coping, but now I can reach for the Lord. I don't have to reach for that next distraction. 

    This school year, I bought a worship flag because it helped me to focus on my worship of God. There were two that came in the package, and I ended up giving one to my friend. Being a leader in worship is being childlike. I know people will say "Dance like nobody is watching", but I like to say "Worship like nobody is watching, except the Lord". How would you worship before the Lord? Would you care what your friends think? Would you look around and see what the people around you are doing? I would love to think that my focus would be entirely on him and that I would be beyond excited to be in his presence. There was a time when I think I would have been more like Martha when it came to worship thinking "Are my friend's hearts in the right place? Are we worshipping right? Am I doing it wrong?" I wanted to do the worship right, or prepare the place as it should have been for the Lord. However, in this heart posture, I wasn't sitting at the Lord's feet as Mary did. "Worship like nobody's watching, except the Lord" just naturally makes me want to jump around, and dance, but sometimes it makes me want to bow down. Worshipping like the Lord is watching, given what he's done for me, just gives me the exact way I should worship in Spirit and in truth. I read in one of my textbooks this semester about how silence unites our human spirits with His Holy Spirit (not the exact words, but this stuck out to me). I feel like worship in this way allows for us to align our hearts with his. 

    Being a Leader in Worship is not an official role in the church. No, it is a way of being with the father and a way of coming back to him. It is an opportunity we have to sit at his feet. Being a leader in worship is our way of showing people our hearts and where our identity is, and we can invite them into life-long worship of a King who gives eternal life. Not every Leader in Worship has to be on the stage, but we could just live our lives worshipping the Lord and encourage others to do the same. When we are kids, play is our form of communication. God created us to play. When my sister was little, she would say "COME ON EVERYONE" and she led in her play with her friends. When we worship, we can have that childlike heart to say "COME ON! LET'S WORSHIP THE KING"!