Dear God, it’s early on a Saturday morning, and I just feel a need to worship a little. I usually listen to something on my phone in the morning. Frankly, I like to have some sort of noise happening at any given time. Pure silence is not natural for me. I grew up with background noise, so I almost never live in pure silence.
With that said, I normally watch some YouTube videos when I get going on a Saturday morning, but this morning I find myself just wanting to hear some old hymns. I currently have “Tis so Sweet” by Shane & Shane going in my headphones as I type this. “Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, how I trust Him!” It’s a balm for my soul.
Growing up Baptist in the 70s and 80s, we used that standard white Baptist Hymnal. It has some great songs I’m glad I carry with me to this day. It’s so sentimental. For me, it’s the way I first learned to worship you. Singing off of a page. Not knowing how to read music but trying to follow along what I now know is the soprano/melody line as I figured out the tune, following the notes up and down. (Oh, now Shane & Shane are singing “How Great Thou Art.” Classic!) My favorite parts were when the men would echo in the chorus. “It is wellllllll (echo: It is wellllllll), With my soulllllll (echo: With my soul), (join together) It is well, it is well with my soullllll.” Love it! I remember one time in a contemporary praise and worship service that it seems that the new Christian praise songs that include the echo have the men lead with the women echoing. I prefer the classic way. I don’t know. Somehow in my little boy heart, it felt like the women were worshipping and then men were coming behind and supporting them. Giving them a foundation for their worship. Interesting. I wonder why this pattern has changed with our modern music.
By the way, I have to say, this Shane & Shane Hymns, Vol. 1 is really well done. They’ve kept the integrity of the hymns without altering them too much, but they’ve still added some nice repeats here and there. This is definitely going to go into the rotation.
Now I have “Give Me Jesus” going in my ears. “When I am afraid, give me Jesus.”
I spent the day helping a friend have a surgical procedure yesterday. I spent right at 12 hours in a hospital waiting and helping him while his wife was out of town. It was a long day. But whenever I thought about complaining, and there were plenty of things I could have complained about with what the hospital did, I would think about the people in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, etc., who are injured and needing hospitals that aren’t safe. I thought about the chaos of their situations. The trauma. It made me hurt for them and more accepting of my first-world problems of things not moving as swiftly as I would like. It helped.
We are up to “Come Thou Fount.” Good stuff. “Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it. Mount of thy redeeming love.”
So Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I’m not going to lie. Yesterday taxed the patience that you give me as your fruit. It was easy to will myself to be patient and kind for the first half of the day, but by 8:00pm, when things weren’t progressing, they started to exhaust my good will. But you gave me the strength I needed to help my friend and stay positive for him. He was frustrated too, but we got through it. I got him home to his daughter who can care for him until his wife gets back in town. It was a long day, but in retrospect I wouldn’t trade it. I pray that you use this procedure and the pain of it for his good. Both physical good and also good in the other areas of his life. In his wife’s and children’s lives. If there has to be pain, please don’t let it be wasted. Please don’t let it be wasted. And don’t waste it in my life either. Help me to grow from this as well. And let it all be for your glory. “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord. Take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above.”
I pray this in your name,
Amen
Emails to God 