Something
I’ve learned from
behind the drum set
By Daniel Waid
Worship.
I don’t know when it
happened; I don’t
know when it started
but some how my life
has been transformed
by worship.
What
I have learned from
behind the drums in
our church has
changed my life.
I
struggled a little
at first to find my
place in the worship
team. The worship
team has been
profoundly gracious
to me in allowing me
to voice my opinions
and I am very
grateful to them for
allowing me the
space to learn and
grow, and screw up
at times. Please
note there will
always be volume
issues, tempo
issues, and ¾ time,
but please be
patient, God isn’t
through with me yet.
The most important
thing I have learned
about worship from
behind the drum set
is…It’s not about
me.
Worship is about the
Lord of all
creation.
It’s not about me or
trying to draw
attention to myself
or how loud I can
play or how fast or
slow we play a song,
but
how I can give more,
how I can become
less, and how I can
let God
become
more.
When I allow the
Spirit to work
through me, I use
the gift He has
given me to bring
Him Glory.
I can therefore take
no credit for what
He does through me.
I become an
instrument of His
will.
This mind set or
paradigm changed how
I worship. I would
like to suggest to
anyone seeking a
deeper more
meaningful worship
experience to try
this as well.
It starts by not so
much seeking to be
filled, but seeking
His presence. What I
do is leave any
wants or worries,
anything stressful
or bothersome at the
door.
I walk into church
with the single
focused desire to
please God with my
Worship. I focus my
thoughts on loving
the Lord, singing or
praising Him, to
give God my full
attention.
My desire then
becomes to love Him
more, to want more
of Him, more of His
presence, more of
Him in my life.
As a consequence of
this I do receive, I
do get blessed;
however it’s not my
intention or my goal
to achieve.
There are times when
I worship and I
don’t “feel” it.
How I “feel” does
not change the
desire I have to
worship, because I
am not seeking
anything for me.
There is never any
expectation of what
the outcome is or
should be, because
the desire of my
heart is just to
spend time praising
God, and as a result
there is never any
disappointment.
I am almost always
overwhelmed by how
big God gets during
this time. My
worship then becomes
more of an
experience with Him.
When I turn my
attention to Him and
seek His face, and
worship with the
purpose of showing
Him love, my
experience with God
is much deeper.
I believe that we
should look to our
relationship with
God to fill us,
outside of the
corporate worship
experience.
When we rely on the
worship team to fill
us, or the message
to move us, or
whatever, I can
pretty much guess
that eventually
disappointments will
come. The worship
songs were too loud,
or too long, or too
short; the message
was about a subject
I can not relate to,
etc.
When we focus on
seeking God’s face,
his presence only,
there is no
expectation.
It no longer matters
if I don’t know the
words to the song, I
can close my eyes
and sing a new song,
cause it’s not about
me…or fitting in,
it’s just about
pleasing God.
After awhile if we
take this further,
everything we do
becomes worship, how
we work, how we
walk, how we
breathe….if your
focused on pleasing
God, it all becomes
worship.
Still working on
that though, I get
easily
distracted…but
again, God’s not
through with me yet.
A good friend once
told me that when I
go to church I
should BFF. (Be
Filled First)
True worship is not
confined to singing
in church or open
praise (although
these things are
both good and we are
told to do them in
the Bible), but it
is the heartfelt
acknowledgment of
God and all His
power and glory in
the things we do. To
truly worship God,
we must know Him and
not be ignorant of
His good and
glorious nature
(Acts 17:23). In a
nutshell, worship is
to glorify and exalt
God; to show our
loyalty and
admiration to our
Heavenly Father!
15Through
Jesus, therefore,
let us continually
offer to God a
sacrifice of
praise—the fruit of
lips that confess
his name.
16And
do not forget to do
good and to share
with others, for
with such sacrifices
God is pleased.
Hebrews 13:15-16
(NIV)