Worship As a Way of Life

Work as Worship

“Work is an act of worship.” 

This phrase has radically impacted the way I view all that I do – from the day to day chores around the home, paying the bills, and raising up my two children as a single mom. Serving God through worship isn’t contained to a song we sing or our time in church on Sunday morning. It’s how we steward each and every day and each and every breath we’ve been given. It also includes how we steward our calling as a mom. We have been designed by God for worship in all that we do. 

Worship Through Trials

What about when life gets hard? 

What happens when we are faced with unexpected trials and loss?  

If I were to sum up all that I have learned first hand these past five years as a single mom, it’s this, “The Lord knows how to deliver the godly from trials” (2 Peter 2:9). He is enough for us today. Exodus 14:13-14 reminds us that the Lord brought victory for the Israelites with what they already had. He is abundant.

As I walked through betrayal and divorce and became a single mom, “motherhood”, as I always dreamed it would be, was now shattered into a million pieces. Life quickly became attorneys telling me what the “standard” was for parenting and a judge, who knew nothing about my children, ruling on what the “best interest” was for them. What a heartbreaking season this was for me. It was also a season that grew me as a mom, trusting that the Lord truly has the best interest of my children. 

Worship Through Dependence

While we want to claim our babies as our own, the reality is that they are on loan to us. We have been entrusted with these little lives. Our purpose is to partner with God in raising them up. 

Once I caught this bigger vision, this partnership in serving the Lord through motherhood, I became more committed to leaning on the Lord’s strength and not my own. 

As mothers, we get to model a life of service and worship for our children. We have a special influence over their lives that no one else has. We were hand picked to be the mother of our children. You are the woman chosen for the job. 

As I walked through the hardest season of my life, with my children watching in the front row, I was resolved to live out my faith. What began as an attack on my marriage turned into an attack on motherhood. Church wasn’t a negotiation. Remaining in community, attending church every single weekend (regardless of how I felt), and filling our home with worship music is how I remained grounded in the chaos around me. 

My children witnessed my fear turn to faith. I invited them into the things I was praying and believing. Together as a family, we experienced and celebrated answered prayers. Those years in the fire were the years we fully grasped what it meant for the Lord to be our defender, protector, and provider. 

Resolve to Worship

Trials don’t get the final word and don’t have to take us out. They are opportunities that strengthen our perspective of motherhood and our need for a Savior. Motherhood is hard work, but it’s worthy work. As we serve our families well, we are serving the Lord well. It’s by His strength we can show up with an unexplainable joy and a light-heartedness in a hard-hearted world. 

My prayer for you today is that you would know and believe how loved you are. You were handpicked to be the mom to the children you are raising up.

I encourage you to pray for an extra measure of grace each and everyday. There’s a target on your back for simply being a mom, especially a mom who loves and follows Jesus. Follow Him closely. Know that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Choose today how you will respond tomorrow. Even when life gets hard, make the commitment that you will still serve and love the Lord.