Sometimes I’m forced to ask myself these questions…

If things don’t turn out like I’d hoped, will I be able to be happy? Will I choose to worship God? In this loss, will I trust Him?

The Power Of Losing It

One of my greatest joys in life is singing to Jesus. When I do, I feel the most connected to Him. Worshiping through singing is the easiest way to get my heart, soul, mind, body and spirit tuned into Him.

So when I lost my voice recently, it really made me think. What if I could never worship through singing again? Before I got too anxious and let my mind wander into fear, my dear friend Lisa texted me.

I was on her heart–thank you, Jesus!

I texted back to her about losing my voice and she replied, “I’m sorry! I’ve been there. I had a month of voice rest in my 20’s when I had nodules on my vocal chords. Made life interesting!”

A few minutes later she said exactly what I needed to hear:

“We can still praise Jesus in our spirit without our voice!”

I knew that, but I didn’t really want to know that. Does that make sense? I have studied Romans 12, and I realize that how we live our life in obedience to God is our spiritual act of worship. But until my voice was taken away, I really couldn’t imagine worshipping as fully as I do when I’m singing to Him.

Singing is definitely a Biblical way to worship God, but in that moment I had complete clarity: if I never sang another note again, I could still connect to Jesus with all of my heart, soul, mind, body and spirit. Singing is such a joy and so natural and easy…but I realized that the gift of singing is nothing compared to my heart connection with Jesus. That connection could never be taken away! Peace flooded over me as I surrendered my ability to sing to Jesus. Even if that was taken away, I would still praise him, still worship him, trust him, and yes I would still be able to be happy!

Is there something in your life, that if you lost it, you could not be happy?

“GOD WANTS US TO STUDY OUR DISAPPOINTMENTS, BECAUSE IF WE’LL LOOK AT OUR DISAPPOINTMENTS, WE’LL SEE WHAT WE LOVE. WHEN THE BOTTOM FALLS OUT, YOU WILL LEARN THINGS ABOUT WHAT YOU LOVE THAT YOU NEVER KNEW BEFORE. AND IT WON’T ALWAYS BE PRETTY … YOU’LL LEARN WHAT YOU REALLY BELIEVE WHEN THE BOTTOM FALLS OUT—WHEN THE CRUSHING DISAPPOINTMENTS COME. AND YOU’LL LEARN WHERE YOU REALLY REST—WHERE YOU REALLY FIND YOUR FULFILLMENT AND SATISFACTION AND SECURITY. YOU’LL FIND WHAT YOUR REAL TREASURE IS WHEN THE DISAPPOINTMENTS COME. IN DISAPPOINTMENT AND DISCOURAGEMENT, WE ARE TEMPTED TO FORGET THAT GOD IS GOD AND GOD IS GOOD. IN DISAPPOINTMENT AND DISCOURAGEMENT, WE ARE TEMPTED TO SUCCUMB TO IDOLATRY. WHY? WE ARE TEMPTED TO THINK THERE IS A GREATER TREASURE THAT HAS BEEN WITHHELD FROM US OR TAKEN AWAY FROM US—A GREATER TREASURE THAN WHAT GOD HAS OR CAN GIVE TO US.” Ligon Ducan

Deep Loss

A million times more painful than losing my voice was losing my hero, my precious Daddy…especially since he was gone so suddenly. I am still mourning my Dad, but there are 3 major things God has shown me through losing him. Truly through every loss big and small, God shows up powerfully:

1. He gives us Perspective. Every worldly thing fighting for my attention doesn’t seem so important anymore. My thankfulness greatly increased for Jesus and what He’s done to save me on the cross for all eternity. Being close to Jesus is number one!
2. He gives us People. I have been astounded at how God uses His people to speak the perfect words of encouragement and to demonstrate His love and kindness. During my darkest times of loss, Jesus showed up so brightly through His people. Obeying the prompting of the Holy Spirit is so important!
3. He gives us a Paradigm Shift. If we will let Him, God will deepen us…refine us…and change us to be more like Him through our losses. “This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:1b-2

In the Bible David, Job, Daniel, Ruth, Joseph, Moses and many more experienced great loss and disappointment. Their stories inspire us still today because they chose to worship Him and trust Him…through it all. Whatever you fear losing or whatever you have lost and are hurting from…I pray that you will choose to praise and worship Him…trusting that He loves you and will never leave you nor forsake you. ❤️