When God Gave Joy
The need for a pianist at our church was immediate. It was also potentially for an indefinite period of time.
I felt so incapable and inadequate for the job and I struggled to find a genuine desire to do it.
However, because I had already been doing it on a rotating schedule, it was only natural that I should pick up more of the responsibility in helping fill the need.
And so, because there was a need and God had given me the ability to help fill the need, I accepted the task.
That week, as I practiced, it was done primarily out of duty and service instead of joy and delight in the privilege to be serving God's people that coming Sunday morning.
However, that Sunday morning, something happened: God did the unexpected. What exactly He did, I'm not sure, except that at some point during the time of singing, God did some major surgery on my heart's attitude. Despite my heart serving out of a sense of obligation to the Body of Christ gathered in this local body, God gave joy.
In that moment, as I dutifully played the notes to the songs we were singing, God caused the words of the songs that spoke of His awesome glory and divine love to soften my hard heart and remind me of the God that I serve. He took away the self-centered consciousness of my inadequacies; in its place, He gave a fresh wonder and awe to be worshiping Him with His people, even while I served.
That morning, from one minute to the next, God did a work only He could do: He turned my sense of obligation into joy and delight in Him; He lifted my eyes off of myself and caused me to behold His glorious beauty while serving others.
Had anything about my physical circumstances changed from one moment to the next? No.
Is there still a need that I am still primarily responsible for helping fill? Yes.
Might there still by days when serving is hard and feels more like a duty than a delight? Yes.
But God in His goodness and perfect timing reminded me that particular Sunday morning that serving the Body of Christ is about Him, not about me.
He reminded my stubborn and selfish heart that He is indeed able to give real joy and strength when we serve Him by serving His people.
Moments like this one remind me that it is a wonderful thing to serve the Body of Christ, for He does give genuine joy in doing it! Such moments also remind me to keep pressing on, even when sometimes it feels more like a chore than a privilege.
And I am incredibly thankful.
I felt so incapable and inadequate for the job and I struggled to find a genuine desire to do it.
However, because I had already been doing it on a rotating schedule, it was only natural that I should pick up more of the responsibility in helping fill the need.
And so, because there was a need and God had given me the ability to help fill the need, I accepted the task.
That week, as I practiced, it was done primarily out of duty and service instead of joy and delight in the privilege to be serving God's people that coming Sunday morning.
However, that Sunday morning, something happened: God did the unexpected. What exactly He did, I'm not sure, except that at some point during the time of singing, God did some major surgery on my heart's attitude. Despite my heart serving out of a sense of obligation to the Body of Christ gathered in this local body, God gave joy.
In that moment, as I dutifully played the notes to the songs we were singing, God caused the words of the songs that spoke of His awesome glory and divine love to soften my hard heart and remind me of the God that I serve. He took away the self-centered consciousness of my inadequacies; in its place, He gave a fresh wonder and awe to be worshiping Him with His people, even while I served.
That morning, from one minute to the next, God did a work only He could do: He turned my sense of obligation into joy and delight in Him; He lifted my eyes off of myself and caused me to behold His glorious beauty while serving others.
Had anything about my physical circumstances changed from one moment to the next? No.
Is there still a need that I am still primarily responsible for helping fill? Yes.
Might there still by days when serving is hard and feels more like a duty than a delight? Yes.
But God in His goodness and perfect timing reminded me that particular Sunday morning that serving the Body of Christ is about Him, not about me.
He reminded my stubborn and selfish heart that He is indeed able to give real joy and strength when we serve Him by serving His people.
Moments like this one remind me that it is a wonderful thing to serve the Body of Christ, for He does give genuine joy in doing it! Such moments also remind me to keep pressing on, even when sometimes it feels more like a chore than a privilege.
And I am incredibly thankful.
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