It’s Sunday morning. I’m sitting in church, and some of our members start singing, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence” (Charles H. Gabriel 1905). I’m sitting there listening to the beautiful blend of voices in the quartet that is singing when, all of a sudden, the baby in my belly begins kicking rhythmically with the music, almost as if he was also worshipping and singing, “How marvelous, How wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my Savior’s love for me.”
I sit there, baby going wild, and tears fill my eyes. When I looked around, everyone in the congregation was worshipping without refrain.
As I have pondered this joyful time of worship this week, I have been reminded of a couple of things. The first is when Mary visited Elizabeth when she found out she was pregnant. They were both pregnant, Elizabeth with John the Baptist and Mary with Jesus. Elizabeth said when Mary entered the house, the baby inside her “leaped for joy”(Luke 1:44). Essentially, when the presence of the Lord entered the room, a baby, still in the womb, was leaping.
Too often, I am focused on the wrong thing. Too often, I am worried about how worship sounds, what songs we are singing, and what I have to do after church. This past Sunday, I was reminded that Jesus, simply Jesus, is the reason for our worship and that His presence is where we find our joy. Psalm 16:11 states that “in His presence there is fullness of joy.”
Another reminder I was given is about Heaven. I got a glimpse of Heaven during that song. Everyone was worshipping the Lord, including my sweet little baby. No one was worried about how anyone sounded or looked; everyone focused on the Savior and his marvelous, wonderful love for us.
When John got a glimpse of Heaven in Revelation 4, he said that when some of the living creatures bowed down praising Him, saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come,” it became like a chain reaction, and the elders then fell down and lay their crowns.
The same thing happens for us as believers. When one of us worships the Lord without refraining, it reminds everyone else of His goodness. This past Sunday, He even used the littlest guy in the room to remind me of how good He is.
Let’s be that reminder; let’s worship without refrain. Let Jesus use us to remind everyone around us of His goodness. Let’s be so full of Jesus that when we enter the room, others leap for joy.
“How marvelous, how wonderful
And my song will ever be
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Saviour’s love for me”
Kristie Fowler
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#kristiefowlerblogs
