“Acclaim the Lord, all males on earth,
worship the Lord in gladness;
enter his presence with songs of exultation.
Know that the Lord is God;
he has made us and we’re his personal,
his folks, the flock which he shepherds.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with reward.
Give because of him and bless his title;
for the Lord is nice and his love is eternal,
his fidelity endures to all generations.”
Psalm 100:1-5 (NEB)
Generally I encounter counselees who’re damaged by so many issues that it’s onerous for me to know the place to start. After all, the precise preliminary motion is at all times to hear with empathy. However after you have image of what’s at play and it’s time to give you a plan of motion, you could work out the perfect place to step in. There isn’t any proper or flawed reply right here, however when you crawl into the casket (as Bob Kellemen likes to say), how do you start to deliver life again to them? Might I supply a suggestion? Earlier than you attempt to deal with the issues, test them into the hospital of worship.
Step One: Breathe
Inhale God. Exhale reward. Repeat till you start to see clearly. An individual experiencing a number of important struggles could also be caught in rumination about these struggles. As most of us know, the extra we ruminate on our issues, the larger they develop into. If that is your counselee’s view:
Me → My Issues → God
God will appear small and distant whereas the counselee’s issues will appear giant and looming. The corrective is to put God between the particular person and his issues.
Me → God → My Issues
Now it’s God who looms giant, and the issues that look small and much away. This shift takes place within the hospital of worship. Psalm 100 tells us to “acclaim the Lord” and “worship” Him; to see God for all that He’s after which to reply with thanksgiving and reward.
This suggestion could look like unusual drugs. Your counselee would possibly see it as you asking them to “placed on a cheerful face” and faux “each little factor is gonna be alright” (pardon the tune references). It’s truly fairly the other. The hospital of worship asks us to reject the experiential narrative that questions the goodness of God and grounds us within the reality of God’s revelation of Himself. It’s Drawback-Fixing 101: you begin with what you know to be true. God is nice, and He’s worthy of our reward. If God, who can not lie, tells us He’s good, then He’s good. And nothing we expertise is ever proof that God just isn’t good. These of us who stroll by religion should by no means permit what we don’t know to bypass what we do know. “The Lord is nice and his love is eternal, his fidelity endures to all generations.”
Step Two: Relaxation
It could even be useful to reverse the order like this:
My Issues → God → Me
Simply suppose: my issues needed to undergo God to get to me. Whether or not God prescribed them or permitted them, they got here with the complete intentionality of an infinitely good God who has a loving goal behind all the pieces that comes into our lives. No downside will ever be one measurement bigger than God permits. It can by no means final one minute longer than He decrees. “Know that the Lord is God; he has made us and we’re his personal, his folks, the flock which he shepherds,” the Psalmist writes. Our Shepherd invitations us to relaxation in His care. If my issues weren’t vital for the accomplishment of His functions, my Shepherd wouldn’t permit me to face them. He made us. We belong to Him. He cares for us. His presence shall be with us, and it will likely be sufficient.
Step Three: Renew
The Lord’s presence has inestimable energy in our soul. He’s Immanuel—God with us. And He has promised to by no means go away us or forsake us (Deut. 31:6). The ability to heal us is in His very phrases. Proverbs 4:20-24 says, “My son, attend to my speech, pay heed to my phrases; don’t allow them to slip out of your thoughts, maintain them shut in your coronary heart; for they’re life to him who finds them, and well being to his entire physique.” It’s gladness, singing, thanksgiving, and reward that He makes use of as a therapeutic balm for our troubled hearts.
Conclusion
2 Chronicles 20 tells one of many strangest tales within the Bible. King Jehoshaphat of Judah was dealing with a military that vastly outnumbered his. He known as the nation to worship God by crying out and fasting. God’s reply was this: collect the musicians and ship them into battle (Severely? Musicians?). They have been to placed on their holy apparel and march towards their enemies, shouting, “Give because of the Lord for His steadfast love endures eternally.” And once they started to sing and reward the Lord, God Himself set an ambush, and Judah’s enemies have been routed.
There’s energy within the reward of our God. He could not rout all our enemies, however He’ll most actually give us the braveness to face them, and the reassurance that He’s at all times victorious. When your counselee checks out of the hospital of worship, he could not have even begun to resolve his issues, however he has an enormous view of an enormous God and the facility that raised Christ from the useless at his disposal. What an ideal place to start out!
Questions for Reflection
- “At first, God.” How usually do I neglect to start out my counsel there?
- How is worship a hospital to me? Do I have a look at my issues a lot that God appears small and distant?
- Which of my counselees may use this phrase right this moment? How can I encourage them to see God as huge—greater than their issues?
