Worship in the Midst of Isolation

This post is by Sabrina Gogerty.

“And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.’” (Revelation 15:3-4)

As I finish writing this blog post, we are on week two of no church gatherings due to state requirements related to Coronavirus. We are still able to live stream our church’s Sunday morning service, meet through Zoom for youth and small groups, and send out YouTube videos with the lessons for our younger kids. But not worshiping corporately–standing with others lifting our voices together to ascribe glory to God–leaves my heart longing for the day when we will be together again.

These verses from Revelation are such a balm to my soul at a time when I am separated from my brothers and sisters. I am sure many saints over the years have found comfort in them as they endured persecution and hardships. One glorious day, when we are united with Christ and separated from sin forever, we will stand before Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth. We will have no distractions of sin and selfish desires. We will have no worldly veil that obscures some of the greatness of His character from our spiritual sight. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

I have asked God to use this trial to revitalize my prayer life, and I have thought a lot about the two acronyms we often use. Whether ACTS or CATS, we want our conversations with God to include adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. In my prayer time with other leaders in my local Bible study group, we use this model, and the time of adoration is so simple and sweet. Oftentimes, rather than telling God how awesome we think He is, we just speak names and attributes of God:  Rock, Redeemer, Savior, Sustainer, Protector, Provider, Faithful, and True. This list seems endless. God’s attributes are something I have learned to run to and lean into in times of trouble. We know God is unchanging, but do we really stop to dwell on and rest in all of who He is?

As humans, we are complex creatures often thinking and feeling numerous things at the same time. But God is in the unique position of being sinless. He is wholly righteous and just and impartial, while simultaneously being compassionate and merciful and loving. Worshiping God transcends music and sometimes even words when we just meditate on and delight in who He is. Have you stopped recently to think of all of the facets of God’s character? Each of those characteristics are grounded in the truth of God’s unchanging, eternal nature. He can never stop being holy, run out of justice, start picking favorites, or decide to turn His back on His children. That’s just not who He is.

As God uses His sometimes painful process of sanctification in my life, He slowly removes the sin that muddies my vision of Him. Yes, I long for the day when I will see Him face to face, but as I walk through the isolation, disappointments, and worries of this pandemic and the resulting quarantine, I find myself begging God to use this time to help my relationship with Him thrive. 

“God, don’t let me waste a drop of this suffering by pushing you away. Use this time to cause my idols of self to fall away and my vision of you to become first and foremost.  When I can’t see through the darkness, help me to bring a sacrifice of praise to you. Open my eyes to more of who you are. Give me a childlike heart that delights in the wonder of who you are. Amen.”

Sabrina Gogerty lives with her husband and three children–two rambunctious boys and an inquisitive daughter, all eight and under–in central Iowa. She is a farm wife who happens to live in town, with a love for baking, reading, coffee, and connecting with and encouraging others. Sabrina has found that time spent in His Word is never wasted and has joyfully been a part of HelloMornings since April of 2015.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash