{"id":7902,"date":"2016-02-10T10:02:30","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T15:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=7902"},"modified":"2016-02-10T21:31:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T02:31:24","slug":"worship-wednesday-an-incidental-finding-opens-a-deeper-experience-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=7902","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – An Incidental Finding Opens a Deeper Experience of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lebanese<\/a>Photo Credit: Telegraph UK<\/a><\/p>\n

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.\u00a0I say to the Lord<\/span>, \u201cYou are my Lord;\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>I have no good apart from you<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span>…The Lord<\/span> is my chosen portion and my cup;\u00a0You hold my lot.”\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup><\/span>The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;\u00a0<\/span>indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>I bless the Lord<\/span> who gives me counsel;\u00a0<\/span>in the night also my heart instructs me. <\/span><\/span>I have set the Lord<\/span> always before me;\u00a0<\/span>because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>– Psalm 16:1-2, 5-8<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An incidental finding. You are referred to a specialist for something that concerns your family doctor. While you find out that the new problem is nothing for concern, in the testing the specialist finds something else that demands further testing. Then you go deeper and longer into the medical processes that eventually provide a diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\"BLog<\/a>Photo Credit: en.Wikipedia<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All through this waiting and wondering, you process much of it alone. It could be benign so why trouble those who love you. Still, the weeks turn into months working through to a diagnosis, and you want those prayers and the closeness that comes in times of struggle. So you decide to tell a few what’s going on. Along with this guarded sharing with some close to you, a deep and sure awareness develops – you were never alone, after all.<\/p>\n

I am always amazed how when you need\u00a0Him the most, God appears in those moments – so real it is as if you can touch Him, feel His breath, lean into His consummately strong shoulder.<\/p>\n

Just this past Sunday at church<\/a>, every single song chosen by our worship leader was meant for me. To know the nearness of God in a stretching season\u00a0– hearing His voice in these songs: On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand<\/a>, Lead Me to the Cross<\/a>, Oceans<\/a>, To the Ends of the Earth<\/a>. What a comfort and joy!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3544\"<\/a>\"IMG_3547\"<\/a>\"IMG_3557\"<\/a>\"IMG_3567\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This time, I am the one with the incidental finding. Even in the scary bits of the day, God has been so kind in pointing me to Himself and\u00a0away from any\u00a0future unknown. Besides,\u00a0He is there in that future unknown. He carries me now; He will carry me then.<\/p>\n

Just last night, a dear friend reminded me to stay on this side of the bridge, because that is where I am. Crossing the bridge is still ahead, after more medical testing.\u00a0 So much good comes through those who love us.\"Blog<\/a>Photo Credit: Memorial Health System<\/a><\/p>\n

Starting on\u00a0my way to one more doctor this week, as I turned the ignition, the radio came on as well, right in the middle of the most fitting song. Casting Crowns’ Just Be Held<\/em>. I’ve written about it before here<\/a>. Reminded again that God is right here with us…in every circumstance of life.<\/p>\n

Worship<\/a> with me, as we celebrate in the midst of a hard place, that God is near to His children. In these moments, “Just Be Held<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Hold it all together
\nEverybody needs you strong
\nBut life hits you out of nowhere
\nAnd barely leaves you holding on<\/p>\n

And when you\u2019re tired of fighting
\nChained by your control
\nThere\u2019s freedom in surrender
\nLay it down and let it go<\/p>\n

So when you\u2019re on your knees and answers seem so far away<\/strong>
\n You\u2019re not alone, stop holding on and just be held<\/strong>
\n Your world\u2019s not falling apart, it\u2019s falling into place<\/strong>
\n I\u2019m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held<\/strong>
\n Just be held, just be held<\/strong><\/p>\n

If your eyes are on the storm
\nYou\u2019ll wonder if I love you still
\nBut if your eyes are on the cross
\nYou\u2019ll know I always have and I always will<\/p>\n

And not a tear is wasted
\nIn time, you\u2019ll understand
\nI\u2019m painting beauty with the ashes
\nYour life is in My hands<\/p>\n

Lift your hands, lift your eyes
\nIn the storm is where you\u2019ll find Me
\nAnd where you are, I\u2019ll hold your heart
\nI\u2019ll hold your heart
\nCome to Me, find your rest
\nIn the arms of the God who won\u2019t let go.*<\/p>\n

*Lyrics & Story Behind the Song Just Be Held<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Telegraph UK Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.\u00a0I say to the Lord, \u201cYou are my Lord;\u00a0I have no good apart from you.…The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;\u00a0You hold my lot.”\u00a0\u00a0The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;\u00a0indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.\u00a0I bless the Lord … Continue reading Worship Wednesday – An Incidental Finding Opens a Deeper Experience of God<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[810,926,1070,799,2126,2307,147,1265,50,903,33,317,795,432,1517,47,946],"tags":[264,1170,2779,2780,2778,2273,2021,697,2777,49],"class_list":["post-7902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-good-gifts","category-attending-or-focus","category-cancer","category-church-2","category-community","category-emotions","category-family-2","category-friends","category-god","category-grace","category-inspired","category-lessons-learned","category-love-2","category-music","category-rest","category-wednesday-worship","category-worship","tag-cancer","tag-casting-crowns","tag-experiencing-god","tag-faithfulness-of-god","tag-incidental-finding","tag-just-be-held","tag-movement-church","tag-rest","tag-wednesday-worship","tag-worship"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-23s","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7902"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7917,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7902\/revisions\/7917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}