Our pastor once told a story about visiting a tiny rural church in Uganda, Africa. He said that he had never seen worship quite like what he experienced there. The building had only open beams for a roof, the floor was dirt, and the walls were bricks made from mud, grass, and animal dung. As humble as the building was, the congregation was far from reserved. He described families walking for hours from distant villages, or even sleeping on the ground outside for days, waiting on the next service to be held. The worshippers sang, danced, wept, and prayed with a passion that shook the ground. His amazement was too much, and after the service, he asked the pastor how it was that these impoverish folks could worship was such fervor and joy, despite not having anything at all. The man laughed and replied, “You Americans are the ones we pity. We worship God this way because He is all that we have; you can’t worship God because you have too much that takes His place.”
Complete dependence on God sometimes only comes through our most desperate moments.
When something great happens, we pray and thank God for His blessing. When all of our daily needs are met, we often don’t give God more than a passing thought. It is when tragedy occurs that we most desperately run to Him. God uses these times to allow us to return to Him; when we can no longer do anything to change the situation around us, all we can do is trust Him to care for us.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Allow yourself to become dependent on Him, stop fighting the current, stop trying to fix things, instead trust Him to bring you through it.
Self-Reflection
How can you use your current situation to lean in on God even more?