I look forward to Sunday mornings. Even though my primary goal is to focus on God and glorify Him alongside others, I receive so many blessings along the way. I get to connect with people I love, reconnect with people I don’t see often, and meet new people. I get refreshed. I feel recharged and ready to face another week. Sunday morning worship for me is a celebration and a recalibration. It’s grounding.
I’ll be honest. Sunday morning worship includes something else: distractions. Sometimes, I face confrontations and frustrations. Other times, I see or hear annoying things that draw my attention, and especially my heart, away from God.
It seems I’m sometimes more susceptible to distractions. Little things pull my attention in many directions, and I have trouble focusing, even under the best of circumstances. Other times, distractions blind-side me.
Like one Sunday when someone let me know about an upcoming conflict. At first, it didn’t bother me much, but as I settled into the worship service, some nagging thoughts pestered me. Why hadn’t someone asked my opinion or offered to readjust when they realized they overbooked something? Why did I have to be the one who problem-solved when I had planned well ahead of time? The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got…
…the less I engaged in worship.
The less I engaged in worship, the less I honored God.
Conviction hurts.
With a deep sigh, I set aside the distraction. I would need to deal with some details about the issue, but that could wait. I needed to focus on the opportunity I had right in front of me to worship God.
Worship isn’t just about Sunday morning, Saturday evening, or any other church service. Worship is a heart attitude of daily life. Distractions abound. I have repeated choices to focus on distractions or focus on worship. In a sense, both are worship: worship of distractions or worship of God. I don’t want to elevate anything or anyone above God.
I’m not going to worship distractions. I’m going to worship God despite distractions, one choice at a time.
Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations. (Psalm 100:1-5)