I Will Worship
by Liz Griffin
In a recent sermon at church, we were asked to reflect on why we worship together. What did corporate singing mean to us and was it common in the family or culture we were brought up in? Could we declare the praises of God on our own? What about when we were in situations of great difficulty? The preacher went on to say we were created to worship, and it was our natural response to God’s gift of new life to us.
King David sang praise and worship songs. So, what did he do when things started going wrong? In Psalm 42, he says he felt as if God has abandoned him and forgotten him. He remembered happier times which were filled with joy. He joined the crowd of people going to the temple to worship God in those days.
But then, he made an important decision. He would place his hope in God and look forward to a future time when he would be praising Him again. It’s the same for us. We can stay in a state of depression, sadness, or disappointment, when things go wrong, or we can make up our mind to live our life praising and worshipping the Lord.
Some people get angry with God and turn away from Him when shocks and traumas happen in their life. But others seek to draw closer to God for the comfort they need at times like that. I believe that there is nowhere else to go to other than to the Lord. In my Christian life, sung worship has always been the place of encouragement and strengthening for my spirit. Before I was a Christian, I turned to other things which were not good for me.
The words of a song by Jason Kennedy come to my mind, ‘I will worship with all of my heart’. The words are so beautiful. They go on – ‘I will trust You, trust in You alone’. Nobody can make us trust. It is a decision we make of our own free will. We alone can decide to worship the Lord, even when things in our life are difficult.
The gathering together of God’s people in praise and worship is powerful. God inhabits the praises of His people. Praise changes the atmosphere around us. But there are times when we are alone. We can sing praises to the Lord on our own and worship Him. There are so many ways available to us these days. During the time of lockdowns in the UK in 2020, I discovered You Tube channels which had praise and worship songs with all the lyrics. Sometimes I found songs I had not heard for many years. They were special songs that had blessed me long ago. What joy!
The marvellous opportunities to enjoy corporate worship times on Ellel Ministries courses and Healing Retreats impacted me greatly, right from the beginning, all those years ago, and I have heard so many testimonies of how God touched people and brought healing during those times
Liz Griffin lived for 20 years as an expatriate in South Africa, Bahrain and Japan, as her husband Paul worked for an international oil company. Paul and Liz became involved with Ellel Ministries in 1991 as part of the ministry team and joined the full-time team at Ellel Grange in 1995. Paul and Liz teach and minister to those seeking healing in their lives and together have written two books, 'Anger - How Do You Handle It' and 'Hope and Healing For The Abused'.
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