Created To Worship

New guest blogger Lex Buckley writes, "By the time you read this blog I will have had my second child, a son, which is very exciting! I already have a gorgeous little girl called Bella and she is a total legend – fun and cheeky with lots of attitude but with such a kind heart – I love her to pieces.

Being a mum is definitely one of the most amazing gifts from God, however, as any parent would know it also comes with incredible challenges. As soon as that baby is born life as you know it is changed forever! For both parents, but I think particularly for the mum, our days and nights are consumed with this little person who totally relies on us for everything, even food! We get the joy of knowing and loving our child more and more, but we no longer have the freedom to do what we want when we want. Paul and I can’t just go on dates when we want to now – we have to schedule a babysitter. I can’t just pick up my guitar and song write whenever I feel that desire stirring in me. Either Bella is sleeping and the music will wake her up or the little monkey wants to sit on my lap and play the guitar too – a precious time, but not so productive when it comes to actually getting any song writing done! And just as with Paul, getting quality time with God has become a lot harder. I have to be really intentional. For example, the other day Paul looked after Bella so I could just get out of the house for an hour and go to Starbucks to journal and spend time with God. That hour was so precious and totally refreshed me, but as I drove home I was reminded of life before I was married or had any kids. I had the time and space to be alone in my room worshiping and spending time with God for as long as I wanted, whenever I wanted. In that moment I was again faced with the reality that those days are long gone in this season of life I am in, and as I am due to give birth to my son any moment, all I can see ahead is more responsibility and months of exhaustion which I know will make it even harder to find that time with God that I am longing for. God has been speaking to me about all this over the past couple of weeks though, and I wanted to share it with you guys because I know some of you will be able to relate.

Last week our church staff did something that my husband used to do with some friends when he lived in Memphis. They would to go to the church building, turn up worship music, turn out the lights and just worship fully abandoned before God. So last week he set up a worship playlist on his Mac, we cranked up the music, turned out all the lights and spent an hour just going for it and responding to God in whatever way we felt led to. The playlist started with celebration songs like ‘Happy Day’ and I could hear others cheering, shouting out God’s praise and running around the sanctuary pouring out their praise with total joy - but I just began sobbing, and I promise it wasn’t the pregnancy hormones! Suddenly I found myself before God totally undistracted by any responsibilities I often have during church services, the work that is still to be done at the office, Bella’s desire for my attention, the fact that the house looks like a bomb has gone off in it, the grocery shopping that needs to be done or dinner than needs to be cooked. In that moment I wasn’t Lex the wife, mother or worship leader – it was just me simply before my God. And I found myself sobbing because as I worshiped I knew I was participating in the one thing I was truly created to do – to worship God. Yes I sobbed, but I LOVED it! It made me feel alive again, and reminded me to do everything I can to create space in my life to worship God and spend time with Him.

Letting life take over is easy to do. Whether you’re a parent or not, married or single, we can find ourselves being consumed with all that is going on around us. We can allow our jobs, families and relationships – all good things in and of themselves – to steal precious time away from our Saviour. Even when working for a church, it’s easy to find our selves doing so much and putting so much effort into leading others in worship, that we neglect our relationship with God and spending time worshiping Him on our own.

The different seasons that life brings us means that its not always going to look the same, and we may have to get creative in how we make the space in our day to be with God. It takes more effort, but its so worth it. As Jesus said in the story of Mary and Martha, its better for us to spend time with Him than it is doing anything else.

Our God is so kind. He knows what is going on in our lives and meets us where we are. I realized as I worshiped Him in the dark last week that He wasn’t angry with me, He just knows what is best for me, and wants me to choose Him. In this season of my life its not going to look like it did before, but that’s ok. I just have to be intentional, even though the time I have to give Him seems small in comparison to what it did before.

So if like me, you’ve have found yourself at a place where the rest of life has taken over, lets put Christ back at the centre of our lives and enjoy spending time with Him. As I said before, being in His presence and worshiping Him breathed new life into me because I was doing what I was created to do – to worship Him – and absolutely nothing can compare!"

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Lex and her husband Paul now live in Jacksonville, Florida where they head up the Worship Department at River City Church. Lex previously worked for Soul Survivor Ministries in the UK as one of their worship pastors, has sung on albums such as Matt Redmans Facedown and released an EP with Survivor Records, Through the Valley. Lex is the happy mother of Bella and Finn.