Tune My Heart, Episode 15
- Stacy Bishop
- Nov 1, 2024
- 3 min read
Happy Sunday, friend. As you prepare for worship this morning, let’s take a moment of quiet to invite God’s presence into your awareness today.
I’m just returning from my annual trip to the Worship Circle REST Retreat. It is always a marking moment. There’s something powerful about being outside in beauty that God created and singing at the top of your lungs with 200 other worship leaders who are hungry to see God move. We all showed up expectant that God was going to be with us during our retreat and that He was going to move in each of us. And I believe He did. I know He revealed Himself to me through many different things last week that cannot be described as coincidence. He blew my expectations out of the water. I know we talked about being expectant in a recent episode, but I want to revisit it.
If you’ve ever been to a conference or a retreat, you probably went with expectation of some mountaintop experience. Or maybe you were even prayerful that it wouldn’t just be a mountaintop experience, but that God would work in an ongoing way in your life.
I want to encourage all of us to not save that expectation for special events. To enter into every Sunday morning, every worship service, with great expectation of God’s presence and power to move in that room. Here’s the beautiful thing: even if you don’t feel it, He’s moving. He’s moving in other people’s lives in ways we can’t always see. Show up expectant and trust that He is moving, even if it’s not in you, but He is moving through you. This is why we show up obediently and expectantly.
And, trust me, this will be harder to do in my own church context on Sunday than it was at that retreat. It’s routine. It’s the same people. Some who never sing. Some who appear to move their lips with expressionless faces. Some who talk through the entire music part of the service. Let’s not discount what God can do in those people, too. What is visible is not necessarily what’s going on beneath the surface. Sometimes there’s more going on there beneath the surface than in the hearts of the most expressive worshippers. Don’t let appearances be what encourages or discourages you. Trust in God, who is the One doing the work, and wait expectantly.
Let me leave you with a reminder from Isaiah 40:28-31:
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Let’s pray.
God, we want to see You move in our people. We want revival for our churches. For our nation. Would You help us to remember that we alone cannot make that happen. Any good done in our church services today is You working through us. Help us to show up in obedience, ready to do whatever You’re leading us to today. May Your Spirit be a strong guide and may we obey whatever You might ask us to do today. We’re expecting You to move today and we can’t wait to see how You do it. We love You, God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
You can access a printable/downloadable version of today's devo here:
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