|
Friends United Meeting |
 |
April 2001
Worship: A Response to the Almighty God
By Sandy Davis
As a child, worship meant prayers and Sunday church--a set-aside time and place. Later I came to the conclusion that worship was a time of "centering down" and focusing my mind and heart on God in some manner of awe. Until we moved to Kenya, worship was comfortable, secure and predictable.
In a country far from the reassurance of the familiar, worship has taken on new meaning and is no longer predictable. Worship is still a set-aside time and place because it seems to take my soul from me and place it in the presence of God, but it does not necessarily happen in prayer or at church. It is also still a time of centering down my thoughts and spirit on God Himself. However, I have come to realize that worship may not come when I have planned for it to be, but might suddenly overtake my mind when I realize God's presence regardless of where I am or what I am doing.
There are so many places where we have come together with other Kenyan Christians in a setting of worship--with a few and with hundreds; with church leaders and with local people in mud and dung huts; with USFW women and with youth; at workshops, conferences, business meetings, counseling sessions, funerals and weddings. Nearly every weekend we are in a different church around Western Province where we meet with congregations in their villages to encourage them and to learn of the homes from which our students come. We go to "worship" with them and to be together with them, but worshiping "with them" really means worshiping "beside" them.
My Life Application Study Bible defines worship as "the appropriate response to God's self-revelation." That is what I was trying to identify. Meaningful worship is spontaneous and is the personal response from a grateful and awestruck heart and mind when God becomes so very real and evident. It doesn't matter where or with whom or when it happens, but only that God becomes so apparent that every fiber of one's being is focused on worshiping His majesty. Public worship can be very meaningful when all are in unity praising the Father, but it can only be as meaningful as the personal experiences of each of those in attendance. God desires this sincere worship and has made us for this fellowship with Him. God was before the creation of man and did not need us; instead, God desired to have our fellowship and, therefore, created humanity. God is God and has no needs for friendships such as we do, but wants to be with us. As human beings, our greatest need is to be accepted and loved unconditionally; God is the only One who can do that. This is why we feel so overwhelmed with love, joy, and peace when we are in The Divine Presence in worship. We were made to worship God and feel one with Him when in sincere worship--totally in awe of who God is and what He has done.
I have experienced this fulfilled worship within large groups when singing praises in unison, but the revelation of God seems most meaningful to me when I am seemingly alone. It comes when looking into the face of a newborn child and realizing the miracle of birth, or when seeing the love in the face of a spouse and knowing only God could provide this sincerity. Marveling at the wonder of a snow-capped mountain peak, the brilliance of a sunrise, the swelling of ocean waves, the delicate petals of an unfolding rose, or the grace of the majestic giraffe strolling on the savannah are the things which bring from me the "appropriate response to God's self-revelation."
I still believe in a time and place for worship so as to be in the habit of recognizing God's handiwork and presence each day. And it is most rewarding to have the spiritual fellowship of other Christians in weekly times of worship. These provide the groundwork in one's heart in preparation for times of elation.
The moment of worship. It is our sincere and whole-hearted response to the magnitude of God who at that moment is permeating the entirety of our souls. "Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless His holy name." (Psalm 103:1)
Sandy Davis is now serving in Kenya as a FUM Field Staff member at Friends Theological College along with her husband Rich. She is a member of Wabash Friends, Indiana Yearly Meeting.
Copyright (c) 2001 Friends United Meeting
Return to April 2001 Contents page