The Goal

I used to think leading worship was easy. You learn some songs, make sure they flow together, and then stand in front of people and sing. It's easy enough when you don't have a proper perspective on leading worship. God has taken me on a journey the past several years. Along the journey I have learned the weight and responsibility of leading others in worship. There is nothing easy about it. In fact it's one of the most challenging responsibilities I have. 

I am a goal-oriented type guy. Give me a goal and I will figure out a way to reach it. Let me know the direction you want to go and I will start running that way. It's how my brain works. As a kid on family vacations, I would sit with a map figuring out the route my parents were taking and if it was the best way. I know how to plan routes if I know the destination.

Leading people in worship has a Goal: Bringing people to a place of Encountering God.

Here's my struggle: there is not a clear cut road map for the end destination. I can't direct or control the best route. I can't guarantee the outcome is the same every time. My goal can't be manufactured or easily planned. There's no way to even know if people will step in the same direction.

Every day I wake up wondering if people will encounter God the way I have. I wonder if they will stand in His presence and know His goodness and love. I wonder if people will find their satisfaction in Him the way I have. I wonder if they will know God is for them and desires to have a relationship with them. Every day I wonder if I can, in some way, hold the door open for someone to step into His presence.

The Goal: Bringing people to a place of Encountering God

Here's where I am with The Goal. I cannot lead people where I, myself, am not going. I cannot take people to a place of encountering God if I am not encountering Him daily. There is no road map for this. It's about personal devotion to an equally personal God. It's about my worship to my God who loves when I spend time in His presence. It's about a life long journey and allowing God to shape me and use me.

There's nothing easy about leading worship. If it was easy everyone would step up and do it. The hardest part for me is knowing there is not a set route to leading people or a formula I can plug into. It's only through the very real presence of Holy Spirit that people Encounter God, and that's what makes the challenge all worth it.

"Let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." -Hebrews 4:16

-Jasper