God’s Therapy of Worship In Our Grief

“I worship despite the pain and I worship no matter what to get through the pain because I know He has the victory over my hurts, habits and hang ups!”

— PENNY STREET

When we worship Jesus despite the pain,

He helps us know our pain’s not in vain,

Because of the joy we hold to be true,

Worship is space for Jesus to make things new!

Surrendering our pain in our bellows of praise, in spite of what we’re feeling, but not ignoring what we are feeling, is holding reality in the palm of our hands. And this reality is not one to destroy us. God contains us in it.

Insisting on trusting ourselves to Jesus – that’s the practice of worship out of a chaotic numbness of vanquished self. We insist on worshipping, not because we want to praise God, but because we want to stay connected with reality. We want to make our lives tolerable, even though some of our emotions tell us that worship – to praise – is inappropriate.

Worship is never more appropriate than when we are downcast and unable to make sense of what God is doing or what life is about in this grief.

The Victory We Claim in Jesus’ Name!

We may know the theory real well – that Jesus won the battle over Satan two millennia ago. It’s not just a theory, though we struggle to live it – to show we truly believe it.

Worship is the vehicle, and by worship I mean any activity that takes our minds elsewhere from our worldly concerns and into the heart of God. Common expressions of worship are connected to singing, music, dance and art. God works practically through our worship – much like via our prayer – by helping us refocus on that which is both positive and true.

This is the truth we apply by our worship: as we worship in our truth – claiming God’s Presence with us, even in the midst of our pain – we trust God, by going to the healthiest source for healing. God’s therapy works in that moment, whether by the Presence of God in our intense sadness, or by the rest of a temporary peace, or by some other method of healthy distraction that includes the experience of joy or peace that transcends our reality.

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The healthiest and wisest therapy in the midst of acute grief is practicing the Presence of God through worship. This is complemented by spending time with people of compassion who just listen. If we don’t know how to worship, we seek people out to teach us, but people who understand and encourage the uniqueness of an individual’s expression in worship.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.