Worshipping through Trials

 

We had the privilege of hosting Sidney Mohede over a ZOOM call recently as he shared his heart with the 2020 AG Student Cohort. He leads and directs the creative team of Jakarta Praise Community Church (JPCC) as Creative Pastor and frequently collaborates with JPCC Worship as a songwriter and producer. Here’s what he has to say about the power of worshipping through trials. 

In the last decade or so, my thoughts about worship have changed tremendously. When we say worship, the first thing that comes to mind for many of us is a slow song. However, I realised that my responsibility is to teach people that worship is not just about singing songs or playing music. Worship is demonstrated in Romans 12:1-2.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Live what you sing.


We often think that worship is always about our performance when it’s not. Worship is surrendering our lives to Him, 24/7. 


I was preaching in church last Sunday on the topic of obedience. I was sharing a story about how I always get questions from people who are in the praise and worship community. A lot of them want to break into the praise and worship industry and I was getting questions like: How do I become a successful Christian worship leader, artist or recording artist?

My answer is always the same: Live what you sing. What we do as a worshipper - every song that we sing, every lyric that we write, every melody that we create - it has to flow out of a life of worship, a life that is freely given and freely sacrificed unto the Lord. 

Jesus is the perfect model for that. He obeyed God until the end, even unto death on the cross. Worship is what Jesus prayed at the garden the night before He was crucified. He asked His Father: If it may, may this cup be passed from me, followed by another statement which captures what worship is all about. He said, Let not My will, but Your will be done. 

Worship starts with holy hope but it always ends with holy obedience. 

What is worship amidst trials? 

So, what do we do in the midst of all the hurt and pain around the world? How do we worship amidst the trials?

About four years ago, I was diagnosed with Meniere's syndrome that left my left ear severely disabled. I haven’t had a moment of silence since. I also suffer from permanent chronic tinnitus, which is a ringing in the ear. I went to different healthcare professionals and ran tests but after my third year, my doctors just told me that they had tried everything. 

Of all the things that could happen to me as a musician! The ear is incredibly important because singing is pretty much 90% listening. It was incredibly frustrating and although I wasn’t really angry with God, I was wondering what was going on. Then, I found these verses that I absolutely loved: 

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 

- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

I have a childhood hero. His name is Fred Rogers, and he said this in one of his interviews before he passed away: The essential is always invisible to the eyes. I really took heart to what he said which were confirmed in 2 Corinthians 4:16 - that the things that we can’t see now will last forever. 

What does eternity look like?

Here’s the thing about worshipping in times of trials. I think for many of us, we look at trials like this pandemic with our own eyes. Yet Paul reminds us that we should not lose heart in the midst of all these things that are happening around us. Even though it looks like everything around us is falling apart, God has a very different purpose. 

Paul said that this light momentary affliction means nothing. The Message translation says it’s ‘small potatoes’, nothing compared to the joy and the glory that God has prepared for us. This light momentary affliction is preparing us, and that’s the key isn't it? Whatever we’re going through in this pandemic is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory. 

Patience is the proof of hope.

I want to encourage all of you to never lose hope. It’s not hoping for things to get better, because hope is a person - Jesus. Never lose Him. 

I always say to our team that patience is the proof of hope. If you’re impatient, it means you’re losing hope. We can’t see it now, but we’re going to have an amazing time when the eternal comes!


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