I was doing a little housework a few weeks ago –yes, ladies, men can clean too though they may pretend they can’t—on my day off from work (and yes, I have cleaned since then too). As I going over our living room rug my vacuum stopped working. I pressed the button a few times and…..nothing. I thought to myself, “I REALLY don’t want to have to buy a new vacuum right now.” My brain had a stroke of genius and I went to the wall to check and see if it was plugged in. Thankfully, that was where the issue originated. Crisis averted—no new vacuum purchase necessary. I went back to my work and thought nothing of it. That is, until 2 days later and I’m in the middle of leading worship in my church. Weird, right?!? Not really…..stick with me. As I was singing I had a momentary flashback to that moment when I went to plug the vacuum back in to the wall. My first twas, “Get your mind back on what you’re doing, man!! Concentrate on leading worship!!!” Then it hit me. The Holy Spirit was speaking to me. For a few seconds I began to see a side-by-side picture. The first was of me plugging in the cord of my vacuum to the wall. The second was my perception of God’s view of us from heaven as we are worshipping.
Just as any appliance can’t function unless it is connected to its power source, the same can be said of Christians. Life happens to everyone. We all slip from time to time. Maybe we are habitual at some point with our daily devotion. We make it a priority. After a few months we hit a rough patch and things get a little crazy with our schedule. Our morning prayer time had to be moved to afternoon, then to evening, and…….pretty soon we’re left thinking, “Shoot, I forgot!” as you start a new day. I can’t speak for anyone else but I know when have spent my private time of worship with God I physically feel better, I’m kind to those I minister to, I’m a better dad, more patient husband, etc. I’m not saying you have to walk around with your hands raised to the heavens all day to be worshipping God. As Christians, our worship has to become a non-negotiable lifestyle necessity. When we are conversing with God throughout the day we are plugged in to our source. When we’re plugged in to the source we have less of a tendency to overreact, make momentary bad decisions, and more. When we allow other things in our life to take priority we become weakened and are more susceptible to the works of the enemy.
Psalm 121:1-8, one of my favorite Psalms, reminds us:
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.3 He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Feeling drab and dead? Does is seems like God is a million miles away? Truth is, He’s ALWAYS right there beside us leading and guiding us–when we listen. The REAL question remains, are you plugged in? Well……are you?