Insecurity destroys relationships

It would be fair to say that intimacy and insecurity are polar enemies at play in both earthly and heavenly relationships.

Lack of trust or faith in the long-term promise of things is insecurity, which creates a host of worries and stress in the present that suck away the contentment of life-giving, joy-filling relationships.

Psalm 40 says
Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.

Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.

One's individual purpose and identity in life is found in Christ, and Christ alone. Attempts to fill that critical bond with other earthly relationships will only end in heart ache, tears, or worse.

Psalm 40 continues:

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.

Attempting to walk on eggshells before the Lord is no way to live. Do this deed or perform this action, the Lord doesn't want that quick fix mentality. We're ok with Him because of what He did. Being ok with Him isn't a matter of what I can or cannot do. Christ wants a long-term, heart-convicted mentality of His purposes, ways, and life-giving Truth. In that frame of mind, it's much easier to love Him and others when I accept it's not about me or what I can do.

When is it time to worship?

With that question asked, it's good to think of
a) what is worship in the first place, and
b) what purpose does it serve?

Worship is intimate communion time with God. A time to celebrate the burdens we've been carrying. A time to express our thankfulness for the joy the Lord has put into our lives. A time to receive from the Lord. He loves it when we worship Him. He absolutely loves it!

And I don't think that's selfish or prideful of the Lord. I think He's above having those human characteristics applied to Him, and well, I believe He made us with an intentional purpose to worship Him. When we do what we were made to do, that makes a lot of sense! It's not an accident that we in turn, when we worship, have great senses of worth and being AND/OR brokenness and purposelessness when we worship. That's because as we worship, there's an almost immediate feedback sense that we're living and doing the action verb we were meant to do. Or not. When we feel broken in worship, we are recognizing that we've been straying from our purpose. This is a dumb analogy, but I bet a zebra would feel pretty lousy about itself if it tried to play basketball. It's a zebra, it's meant to run around in a harem (zebra word for 'pack' or 'flock') and hang out eating grass, not drill threes and throw down.

Worship is a necessary, life-sustaining event to be practiced, a time in the midst of our earthly lives to remind ourselves of that original creation purpose. The foreshadowing promise we get from Revelation is that's what we'll do in Heaven: worship (Rev 7: 9-17). If that's how the Lord wants it in Glory, then I think we ought to try and practice up as much as possible down here.

This new song by Hillsong (after the singer's testimony) has some great lyrics that speak well to those times when we should worship..."...in every season..." All those seasons we go through in life (Ecclesiastes 3, or just listen to the Byrds), THAT is the time to worship. There are times that it will be easy to worship. There will be times that are difficult, times when we'll feel scared or angry or intimidated by the thought of worship. But I really think we should do it, regardless of what we're facing at the moment in life. This video is a really solid testimony and an encouragement to worship even in the face of tragedy and loss. It's very real. The lyrics in the song speak right to the issue of when to worship. The song follows the testimony.