This morning, I ran out the door in a flurry. There was no time for coffee and more importantly, I missed out on time in Scripture, and my time of personal praise and worship.
The other day during my work with a mother and child, I had the privilege of watching a toddler uninhibitedly “dance” to some happy music. As she danced, her arms moved back and forth and her head lolled left then right and she clapped and kicked her feet moving in a dizzying circle. She seemed oblivious to us adults in the room, yet we were enthralled, and couldn’t help but delight in her innocent dance of joy.
The whole experience made me ask myself…where did I lose that kind of passion? When did I last worship in total abandon? When did I become so self-conscious? It reminds me of a passage from Matthew 21:12-17 that describes that just after Jesus cleansed the temple and healed the sick, the children arrived, and in unabashed praise in front of the scribes and chief priests shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!” When the religious leaders became angry and wanted Jesus to silence them, Jesus replied:
“Have you never read that out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for Yourself?”
In a similar setting in Luke 19: 40 when Jesus was making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the disciples were the ones shouting “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” When the religious leaders heard this they were indignant once again, and demanding Jesus to silence them. Jesus replied:
“I tell you, if these become silent, even the stones will cry out!”
Getting home tonight after a long day I pulled up the drive and shut the motor off. As I stepped out of the car I heard a ringing kind of chorus (like jingle bells from a distance)coming from the neighbor’s pond just behind the tree line. The peeper frogs have awakened! You can hear them if you take a country drive in the early warm spring, and they seem to be the loudest just before everything bursts into bloom.
So, the lesson in this for me, is that it’s never too late for me to praise where I left off! And even if I wake tomorrow in a hurry and miss out on another opportunity to start my day with worship, I’ll be reminded that if He chooses, God can use stones to do the job! Our Father has appointed the simple to bring Him praise. If you hadn't noticed by now, God uses nature to speak powerfully to me, and it is His creation that brings Him glory and praise (with or without me!) I’ll remember too that if I/we keep silent, the blessing will go instead to the child and to the frog-the ones that cannot keep silent!
Until next time-
Peggy
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3 comments:
What a great reminder Peggy of God's creation having no problem whatsoever praising Him. I want to pay better attention to nature and join in - This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!
I really enjoyed your blog, Peg. I could picture everything in my mind and it made me smile. Praise God for all the times he taps us on the shoulder during the day just to say "enjoy!"
OK, I found the Scripture about childlike praise, and I found the Scripture about stony praise, but where is the Scripture about the praising frog? :) Seriously I too challenge myself to be more demonstrative in my worship. Let's dance like David!
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