I had an experience that forever marked me and taught me about worship in this way. Years ago, I got the stomach flu from my friend. This was a particularly virulent strain of the stomach flu and I had it for three weeks. All I could do was stay in the bathroom all day; I was sleeping and living in our bathroom. I could barely keep any food or water down, and I was in so much pain I didn’t move much.
My body was exhausted and I didn’t understand why I was not feeling better. In this sickness, I kept thinking, “Why is this taking so long to pass?” My husband and I prayed and did everything related to healing that we knew to do, but nothing was happening. My husband was starting to worry about my health as I quickly spiraled in the third week. I did not want to go to the hospital but it was getting to the point where he was going to have to drag me there for medical care. Before he had to resort to that, the Lord put something on his heart to try first.
My husband is a fantastic guitar player, and as I am lying on the bathroom floor crying from pain, he comes in with his guitar.
He said, “I know David played for Saul, and distressing spirits would leave, so I will play over you.”
He did not have a chord chart in front of him or anything telling him what to play. He just closed his eyes and started playing what was inside of him.
I love to worship, and I struggled with the fact that I could not stand up, dance, and praise Him because of the pain. God said something to me at that moment as my husband played his guitar over me. He said, “Are you a true worshiper?”
I said, “Yes.”
At that moment, I knew what I had to do. I would sacrifice and push through the pain to worship Him with all I could.
I sat up and lifted my hands as high as I could. With tears streaming down my face, I started singing my own song about God’s goodness and that He was a healer. Even though I was in the middle of severe sickness, I needed to sing that out because I needed to believe it. I needed to be reminded that He is forever good and that He is a healer. I chose, at that moment, to worship in spirit and truth regardless of my circumstances.
An amazing thing happened at that moment! All the pain went away and I got up and was completely healed.
I know there are a lot of diseases, sicknesses, and situations that are worse than the stomach flu, but I learned four things that I will never forget through that experience.
God did not make me sick.
My husband created an atmosphere that released heaven through music.
True worship is responding to God’s goodness even when it’s hard.
My circumstances do not change who He is. He is always good.
It is important to note that my husband did not simply read a story in the bible about David, a skilled musician, playing over someone and distressing spirits leaving. He took a risk, and we experienced the power of God for ourselves. Don’t discount music; God made it, and it is good.
