I love a good meme. I’m not sure who invented the idea, but I’d like to thank them for the endless entertainment I’ve gotten from this art form. One of my recent favorites is a text based one from Twitter that says, “Some of y’all never (fill in the blank) and it shows.”
For instance, “some of y’all were never line leaders in elementary school and it shows.”
“Some of y’all never watched Dr. Phil and it shows.” and the memes go on and on.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I were in church and the worship band begins one of my recent favorite songs. Just the drum intro and I was ready to get going. I mean, like aerobic exercise worship time. The song begins, worship team is doing a great job leading and I begin to look around because surely others in the congregation are going to join me in my excitement. I mean, this is worth getting excited over. But they didn’t. They calmly (tried) to clap to the beat. Most of the congregation almost seemed annoyed by this new worship song.
The band continued, the worship leader tried to help the congregation see the value of the words, but nothing. Suddenly, this meme comes to mind… Some of y’all have never (fill in the blank) and it shows.
Some of y’all have never been in a place where the only thing you can do is worship.
Some of y’all have never faced a giant so big you didn’t know how to fight but you knew God had equipped you with the ability to worship him and that was all you needed.
Some of y’all have never felt so alone and desperate that God was all you had.
Some of y’all have never been in a position of spiritual warfare for your family and were so fatigued of the enemy’s tactics all you could do was sing.
Some of y’all have never been in those places and it shows. It shows in your worship. It shows in your commitment. It shows in your community. It shows in how you live your life. Some of y’all have never encountered Jesus and it shows.
My grandmother was about 5’1″. But she was a giant in faith. One of her most famous lines I quote to myself often is, “I’m not afraid of you or 40 devils like you.”. I always thought it was so sassy, southern woman of her to say that. However, I’ve realized she wasn’t afraid because she had been through some battles and she knew that she could take on anything she faced because God was on her side. She could sing at the top of her lungs that there ain’t no grave gonna hold her body down, because she’d faced death. She could worship and walk through the lowest valley because God had never left her or forsaken her. And she certainly wasn’t afraid of the devil because he was already defeated.
Granny had faced some giants, defeated the enemy, survived the unimaginable, and it showed.
She also used to tell me that “every pot has to sit on his own bottom”. So much rich theology in that statement. What Granny was telling me was that she couldn’t believe for me. She, my dad, my mom, my aunts, my uncles, none of them could worship for me, none of them could accept Jesus, for me, that I had to do that for myself. And boy, was she right.
As an adult, I faced circumstances and giants that I wished I hadn’t. I fought giants, I walked in the shadow of death, I walked through the desert. Granny never would have chosen for me to experience any of those things. However, she knew that in order for this pot to sit on its own bottom, it had to experience some things.
So, when I worship, when I face trials, my experience is different than those who have never walked through anything. I’ve walked out of the grave of sin and shame. I’ve been where a melody is my only weapon because Jesus comes to fight for me. I’ve seen the goodness of God in the land of the living.
If you fit in the “Some of y’all have never…” category, my prayer for you is that you start experiencing some things because nothing makes your faith stronger than facing adversity.
Consider* it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
*Consider here doesn’t mean think about it, it means count on it.
Love love love this. All of it. Thank you.