Matthew 10:20 "For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."
I sing on the worship team for my church, and it's one of my absolute favorite things to do. I love the people that I get to spend time and sing with, and I am consistently overjoyed and extremely blessed when I have this opportunity.
But one morning before worship team rehearsal I found myself thinking, "I'm just too tired."
Our worship team has 2 rehearsals for the two Sunday services we lead on a given Sunday morning. One is on the previous Thursday night, and the other is at 7:45 on Sunday before the 9 a.m. service. I usually get up around 5:30 a.m. on these mornings so that I have time to wake up, shower, and do my hair and makeup.
It is tough getting up that early, especially for a college girl who loves to sleep. But usually, I can get up, shower, and then I am fully awake.
This Sunday, I woke up particularly tired for no apparent reason. I had slept well, from what I remember. I don't remember waking up frequently, and my phone was away from my bed. Also, I had gone to bed around 11 p.m. the night before, so it wasn't as though I only got 2 or 3 hours of sleep.
I was simply exhausted.
I kept hitting snooze on my alarm and finally forced myself out of bed to get ready at 6.
After leading the two services in worship, I was thinking about how badly I hadn't wanted to get up that morning. I couldn't believe how selfish I had been to lose motivation.
It's not about me. Sunday mornings aren't meant for me. They're not meant to make me feel good, and they're certainly not meant for sleeping in.
Satan likes to trick us into thinking that we are too busy or too tired to go to church. Sometimes, he might even cause us to think that church isn't for us. Or he whispers, "You could just watch the service online this week." That's the biggest lie I've been told because I rarely end up doing it.
By making a point of getting up and going to church, we are silencing Satan. We are equipping ourselves with verses that can get us through the week and fellowshipping with God's people. We are proving that church is beneficial and an excellent use of our time, which it is. Don't let anyone tell you that it's not.
My Sundays are dedicated to worship. Technically, all of my days should be dedicated to worship, so why aren't they?
Because I am selfish. I am human. I am a sinner.
Sundays are the easiest to set aside for God because they are a part of the weekend, they get us ready to start the week again, and God commands us to rest on Sundays anyway! No, that doesn't mean He's telling us to sleep through the service. That just means that He is promising you a nice nap after church.
And that is also exactly why I had not wanted to get up early. I want to sleep in on Sundays, but that is not my calling. I volunteer to lead worship for hundreds of people not for my own gain. If it were meant for my own gain, I would change the service times to be later in the afternoon!
I don't get paid to lead worship. I don't get my name in the bulletin. I volunteer because I love to sing, and it's necessary for a church to have worship leaders. A worship team is meant to lead the congregation in singing as a form of worship, not put on a show for everyone to watch. I don't get on stage each week just to have people's attention.
It's not about me; it's about Him.
God doesn't look at me at 5:30 in the morning and think, "Aw, she's tired. Go back to sleep, my child. You can lead worship some other time." Absolutely not!
Rather, I'm sure He thinks something of this nature: "Please get up. You signed up for this. You know how much you will regret not getting up."
I lead, not so that I can quit when I'm too sleepy. I lead so that I can point everyone to God. I pray each week that someone new will come to one of the services and hear the amazing music we sing. Maybe one of those songs can lead this person to Christ. I sing my absolute best so that I don't stand out and no one will focus on me. I am merely a floodlight onstage pointing straight to Jesus. Leading worship is the least I can do to praise God each week.
