Her Faith Thrives

Christmas often tempts me to do more than I can reasonably accomplish. For the last 3 years, however, God in His sovereignty forced me to slow down and practice simplicity in a season overflowing with good possibilities.  One year, God used a demanding job to move me toward simplicity.  Two years in a row he used a season of pregnancy. In one holiday pregnancy, I was dealing with first trimester sickness and in the other I was really close to my due date.  Although simplicity can bring a lot of peace of mind, the main reason I want to reflect on this discipline in this season is bigger than that. 

Christmas and the weeks leading up to it provide a rich opportunity to behold and worship Christ. Unfortunately, we who know Christ are often caught up in so many festivities, intentional worship is an afterthought or a guilt ridden omission. I get it, but I don’t want things to stay the same for you or for me this year. Worship is what our often frazzled and weary hearts need the most. We were created to thrive on a life rightly centered around worshiping God; and my friends, He is so worthy. Embracing simplicity in my activities and in my focus has allowed me to better prioritize and pursue worship. So here is my challenge to you: Will you prayerfully consider prioritizing worship of Jesus this holiday season? If you are ready to consider this, here are 5 ways you can start to prioritize worship.

Define what prioritizing worship looks like in this season.

We have all said things like, I want to remember the reason for the season. However, without an actual plan for what that looks like this is a nice sentiment that often lays dormant as we pursue other things over the holiday season. So I challenge you to sit down and think through what that means.  Does it mean engaging more meaningfully with your local church?  Spending extra time in the word or prayer?  Working through an advent reading plan? Listening to a selection of God exalting worship filled music?  Define this prayerfully and then think through what it will take to pursue this intentionally from now until Christmas day.  

Figure out what it takes to pursue worship intentionally.

Like all resolutions or goals, if we cannot figure out exactly how and when we will work to accomplish them they often fall by the wayside.  Look at the barriers to intentional worship in this season  and make a plan to overcome them. Did the Lord prompt you to be more faithfully engaged at your local church? Go to bed earlier, skip the late night activity on Saturday night.  Did the Lord prompt you to spend extra time in the word and prayer? Determine when you will do it: daily? weekly?  What do you need to put on hold to make that happen? 

The better you can define your process, the easier it will be to create doable goals. For example, it may not be realistic to double your time in prayer but maybe choosing to add 5 more minutes or write out your prayers instead of saying them will work. Pray for wisdom and creativity as you work through this step.

Simplify your celebration 

I highly recommend taking the time to put all your festive activities and plans on your calendar in such a way that you can see them all in one place.  This will give you a sense of how committed you are.  Knowing this and your desire to prioritize worship, you can choose what to limit.  Choosing your presence and absence can help you maintain your priorities. One more useful practice is thinking about the work that surrounds your commitments.  For example, if you have a Christmas party on your calendar the time and work commitment will vary depending on whether you are hosting or simply attending the party. As you prayerfully evaluate your commitments, make adjustments that allow you to engage and serve in the ways God is calling you to but maintain your priority to intentionally pursue worship.

Keep praying for wisdom. 

 As you walk through this season keep committing your plans to the Lord and listening to the prompting of the Holy spirit.  As you go along He may lead you to let go of more than you had thought you needed to. He may lead you to take on something that you had not considered.  It is easy to rely on our plans more than the Lord, resist this temptation. 

Do not let imperfection stop you from staying intentional. 

It can be very disheartening when you commit to a course of action and it does not work out as consistently as you had hoped. You fall behind on the reading plan, you are sick and cannot gather with others in fellowship the way you hoped, something unexpected is taking up the time you set aside to dive deeper into the word and prayer. Do not be discouraged. Remember God is sovereign. Ask for wisdom on how to pursue Him even when it doesn’t look like what you had envisioned. Remember God is your strength.  Ask Him for strength to stay the course.  Remember God is compassionate. Ask for forgiveness when your own sinful habits or desires are getting in the way. 

I am cheering you on as you pursue intentional worship in this season. Christ is worthy and in his kindness, He will restore your soul through this pursuit. 

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Revelation 5:11-12 (ESV)

For Further Encouragement

Were you encouraged by this blog post? I would love to connect with you on the Her Faith Thrives Newsletter! This newsletter goes out every other month and contains a short personal update, and varying combinations of encouraging reflections like this one, content sneak peeks, and a handful of links to other encouraging resources!