Lost in wonder?

Sometimes in worship it's easy to get caught up in the wonder and excitement of our awesome God. We worship with all we have, and give everything we can. Often there can be such an overpowering atmosphere that we are called up into the spirit, so consumed by the beauty of the God we worship that we can totally miss what is happening around us.

While this can 'feel' amazing, it can be a challenge for a number of reasons:

- As worshippers and musicians we must always be aware of what we are doing, especially what we are playing. If we're suddenly 'lost in wonder' and overjoyed by the feeling, there is a good chance that we may have left our technical musicianship back down on earth while our hearts are floating about on Cloud 9.

Don't get me wrong; we should feel it when we worship and play, but never at the expense of the music. Remember everyone else is still listening, and our responsibility is to lead everyone to encounter a little bit of heaven. Don't get sloppy. If you're playing, you're playing for a reason (or at least you should be... that's another blog!), so keep your musicianship and skill as much a part of your worship as that warm and fluffy feeling. That way there's more chance the congregation will feel more of what you feel as you lead them into His presence.

- Another reason is that we need to see what God is doing. 'Watch and pray'? hint hint... Open your eyes! Be aware of what the Spirit is doing in the meeting and in the congregation. Don't miss out on a chance to respond directly to what is happening. Sometimes this can be as simple as dropping the music right down to a gentle pad as the Spirit moves to release healing or a fresh intimacy.

Keep an eye on your leaders (pastor, elder, service host) from time to time as well, and submit to their direction. Us worship leaders and musicians can happily enjoy that guitar solo for another half hour, but there may be other things on God's agenda for that day.

Our job is to bring people into His presence. Not just go there ourselves. After all, you don't want to open your eyes after a 45 minute worship set to find everyone back on earth staring that at you like you're an alien because you lost them after the third song! Trust me... been there.