Each of us have experienced mountaintops in life, those moments when all seems right and it feels like we’re on top of the world. And in these moments, it’s easy to praise God. It’s easy to tell Him why He’s great and to thank Him for our blessings. But life is full of both ups and downs… and each of us have also experienced deeply low valleys. Can you think of one? The times it felt like your world had fallen apart, like your broken heart was beyond repair and you wondered how your life could go on? And sometimes when we’re flat on our backs in these moments, we try to dull the pain, to fix our problems, or to run away from them all together… because it’s a lot harder to praise Him in these moments than on our mountaintops. So often, we worship God when life seems good, but we fail to worship Him in our hardships and suffering.
We desperately search for ways to make our life better and forget about the One who actually can. And it breaks His heart because He is standing in those moments too with His arms open wide, waiting to hold us. God doesn’t only want our smiles and our joy; He wants our hearts—even when they’re in pieces. This is what it means to worship… for our hearts to be engaged with God, even when it’s through tears and great sorrow. Even when we collapse at His feet and say, “Carry me God because I can’t do this” …that too is worship because in the depth of our heart, we’re still connecting with Him. The Bible gives us some beautiful examples of what it looks like to worship God in hardship, proving to us that it’s possible.
Jesus’ disciple Paul suffered great challenges throughout his life. In 2 Corinthians 11, he explains, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles […] I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” And in 2 Corinthians 12, he talks about having a thorn in his flesh and writes, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Even in his great suffering, Paul turned his heart to The Lord and put his faith, trust, and praise in Him. That is worship.
And in perhaps the greatest example of all time, we have Jesus. Matthew 26 shows us what Jesus experienced just before He was arrested to be crucified… “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’” Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, and yet he fell at The Father’s feet and prayed. His heart was connected. And as He hung on the cross and experienced brokenness and abandonment we will never know, He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” No one will ever know more anguish than that, but in desperation and heartbreak, He still turned to God. That is worship.
I have a friend who went on the World Race, and while she was gone, her dad was diagnosed with cancer. She went home to get some time with him but returned to the field because she knew that’s where she was supposed to be. Shortly after, she received the phone call that her dad had passed away. She started wailing, but through her wails, the first words out of her mouth were, “God, thank you that my dad is with you in heaven now.” That is worship. It’s the kind of faith I want to have in my own life… to be able to stand in the midst of suffering and still be that connected to The Lord.
As children of God, we have a Father who has promised us, “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” It’s true on the mountaintops and it’s true in the valleys. And in the deepest of these valleys, we get to choose how to respond; we get to choose whether or not the cry of our hearts will be worship. He offers us comfort, peace, and love that we cannot find anywhere else beyond Him. How drastically might our lives change if instead of running from God when bad things happened, we instead ran to Him? So I challenge you to try it, to worship Him in the midst of great hardship. If you can, thank Him for His goodness even when it’s hard to see. And if all you can do is fall down and cry, then fall down at God’s feet and cry to Him. He will pick you up and hold you… because He loves you, and He is good. He is always good.
