Celebrate Recovery...

About a month ago, I was asked to come lead Worship at Celebrate Recovery.  It's at Genesis Church in Guntersville.  I hate to say it, but I had mixed emotions.  On one hand, I was a bit hesitant because I have Praise Team practice that night and because I have SO much going on at the moment.  On the other hand, I was ecstatic just knowing I would have a chance to learn from these recovering addicts.  I knew they could teach me a lot about true Freedom.

I immediately began calling the Praise Team, Praying about the songs, and making plans to visit the church beforehand so I would know exactly what instruments we needed to bring (yeah...take notice of the wrong order.  Prayer wasn't first.  Keep reading and you'll see my lesson learned).  I took my whole lunch break making sure all the arrangements were clear and everybody knew what was going on.  I was so excited...we had over half the Praise Team going.  Keyboard, drums, guitars, saxophone, vocals...these people are gonna' flip out!!!!!  I was determined to go in there singing about and proclaiming Freedom.  I just knew people would be dancing all over the place.  With loud music and tons of instruments/vocals, how can people just sit still?  That's just it, though...I was so dependent on music and instruments and vocals that I was overlooking the ANOINTING. 

There seems to be an art to Praise and Worship leaders these days.  We know just when to do a keychange, cut out the music and let the drums kick it, make the right facial expressions, when to make it soft and get increasingly louder, use the right lingo and ad libs, do some cool beat here or there, and--of course--we can't forget the media in the background.  People standing on the edge of cliffs with their hands raised surrounded by rushing water seems to make the whole Worship experience just a little more meaningful, right?  Any of this sound familiar?  It sure does to me.  I'm the queen at all the aforementioned (big word, huh?).

Please...don't get me wrong.  Bringing all the senses together to form a great Worship experience is crucial.  I believe all of it gels to create an atmosphere that can certainly be meaningful.  However, I find myself getting caught up in the mixture of media and harmony that I forget one simple, powerful, lifechanging, and main ingredient...the Anointing.  So...here I go walking into Genesis all bold, confident, and proud.  All the musicians and vocalists following me...I was like a proud mother.  "Just wait 'til they hear us.  They're gonna' go nuts."  That's the thought running through my mind.  I just knew that place would never be the same and they'd be talking about us the rest of their lives.

Well...it didn't happen that way.  They had a great time and people were Praising, lifting hands, jumping, smiling, crying...all the outward expressions of Worship, but no inward indication of change.  The whole time we were on the platform, I felt as if the Lord was teaching me a lesson.  That lesson: just think what they would've experienced had I been concerned about the Anointing first.

They asked me to come back the next week, then later offered me the position as Praise leader for Celebrate Recovery on Thursday nights.  Just goes to show me that He can work even when my mind isn't in the right place.  The second time I went back, it was just me, Brian, and Jenny...our vocalists.  No other instruments...just me on the keys and Brian and Jenny singing.  It was wonderful.  It was powerful.  It was real.  It was Anointed.

Wow...their Worship was so inspiring.  It was so obvious that it came from deep, deep within.  I understand that we all have our own "thorns in the flesh."  We all have our things we can't and won't live without.  I say, "Jesus, You're all I want.  You're all I need."  Is that really what I mean, though?  Nah...I'm not there, yet.  I'll readily admit that there are a million things and people I put before Him.  I've fooled myself and others for way too long by saying I'll give up anything for Christ.  I want to think that and I believe one day I will.  For right now, though...I'm trying to be there.  I can definitely say that I want to be there.

These people?  They know what "binding the strong man" really means.  Every minute for them is spent conquering a craving that could easily kill them.  I look at them...some have horrible scars, a few with limbs missing, lots with very few teeth, many with scars.  Many of us look the other way...pretend not to notice them.  Even more, most fool themselves into thinking they're somehow "better" than the addict walking down the street.  I can't lie...I've had that same thought.  Guess it's easy to think that for me.  I mean...I've been raised in the Beaver Cleaver home...amazing parents who've been married for 46 years, an incredible sister, two hilarious brothers, and money enough to do and have whatever was needed or wanted.

The more I Worship at Celebrate Recovery, the more I realize I'm a millisecond away from being in their shoes.  It's by God's Grace only that I am where I am.  It could've been me born into an addict's home.  Probably should've been me that was placed in an abusive household.  I had nothing to do with it...it was the Lord's Hand that has saved--and still continues--to save me.  I stand alongside them in Praise and Worship knowing and understanding we're all just a blink away from each other. 

The amazing thing about Worship...the fragrance is still the same no matter what vessel it comes from.