If there is one thing I have learned lately, it is that serving Christ is not without its costs. I believe there is no better cause than to love and to serve Christ “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30 ESV) There are those (like my husband, Josh) who have been blessed with great talents which I am sure most of us wish we had in our possession. Among these talents is the gift of music. Although he claims to only be able to play a handful of instruments, I honestly believe that, given enough time, Josh would be able to play almost anything musical that you put in his hands. He loves to play and make music. It builds him up and calms him down.
The church that we attend recently started a new worship service on Sunday evenings called Vertical. It is an awesome service with an incredible band-driven worship experience that is both dynamic and interactive. After what seemed to be years of waiting on God’s perfect timing, Josh was asked to play keys in the band. August ushered in the kick-off for the new service. It has been a time of incredible, moving, passionate worship of our Lord and Savior. Josh is enjoying every minute of this experience. We both know and understand just how blessed he is to have been given this opportunity to serve Christ in a unique way.
Yet, with his service to the Lord came great costs. In serving his Heavenly Father, he gained the ultimate enemy, Satan. In the last several weeks, Satan has grabbed at every corner of our being leaving us discouraged, disappointed and asking questions that often begin with “why”. We cannot understand why God is allowing certain things to take place in our lives. We have struggled against the enemy whose greatest desire is to have us turn our backs on God.
The cost of service is not cheap. Even now we are leaning on God to be our provision and our guide. We are praying for His guidance and His perfect will in our lives. Today, we experienced one of our most difficult challenges yet. Despite the confusion and frustration we currently feel, we know that God’s plan for our lives is perfect. We know that He holds the future. In God’s perfect timing and with much perseverance, I am confident that we will overcome this hardship. I was reminded today of a precious psalm of David: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19 ESV)
