Over the last 10 to 15 years, there has been a beautiful resurgence of worship songs about pain and suffering.
Songs like “You Never Let Go,” “Whom Shall I Fear” and “The Desert Song” have provided weary saints with declarations of faith in the midst of their pain. This is wonderful. Our worship expression needs to touch on all the areas of human experience—joy, celebration, lament, suffering, confusion, hope and loss.
Worship isn’t a place to forget your circumstances. It’s a place to bring them. It’s a place where they find their God-ordained context.
But until your life has been touched by fire, you don’t know what it’s like to actually worship in the midst of it.
It’s easy to talk about worshiping in the midst of your pain. It’s easy to write blog posts, preach sermons, discuss and sing songs about the trial and the pain.
But what does this look like when the darkness over your life is overwhelming?
- When your hope seems all but gone, what does your worship look like?
- When you lose a son or daughter, what does your worship look like?
- When you receive a terrible diagnosis, what does your worship look like?
- When you finalize the divorce papers, what does your worship look like?
- When you experience a business failure, what does your worship look like?
I’ve shared some of my story on the blog already, so I won’t repeat myself. You can find that here and here. But suffice it to say, I’ve had some opportunities for my worship to be tested.
I remember sitting in worship services where I wanted to vomit. Not because of my sickness, but because no one knew what I was going through.
I remember reading my Bible and chucking it across the room because none of it worked for me (yeah, those were some low times).
And while there’s always someone else who suffers more, it still doesn’t minimize the mountain that towers over you. It is real. It is scary. It is confusing.
Keep Showing Up
Yes, this is a blog post about worshiping through pain and suffering, but I’m not going to give you 10 steps for properly worshiping through pain. Gag.
Instead, I’m going to give you three words. These three words are the most important thing you can do.
