It is morning again. I am dragging as usual. I understand why. Fatigue is the primary side effect of my chemotherapy medicine. Weakness is a small price to pay for the way this drug has stopped my cancer from growing. After two years in this chemo journey, I consider my lethargy a minor inconvenience on the way to heaven.
Life is different, however. For 90 years I usually bounced out of bed, ready to embrace a new day. Then cancer barged into my life. And this drug has taken the bounce out of my life. I go to bed tired. I wake up tired. But I tell my body, “I am in control, so get up; we have work to do.” Its slow response reminds me that though my control is weakening, I’m still the boss.
Each morning the routine is the same. Swallow four capsules on an empty stomach. Wait an hour to eat. I spend that hour letting the Word of God restore my soul. What a blessing those hours have been. This year I am reading the Everyday Gospel Bible in the English Standard Version. Its plan is to read three or four chapters daily, which are followed by commentary and prayers by Paul David Tripp. This discipline has been extraordinarily helpful. I get “lost” in the glory of God’s Word and forget about my cancer.
After my devotional and prayer time, I warm my Jimmy Dean biscuit and enjoy it with my first cup of coffee. Then, and only then, I open my cell phone to check my messages. (I refuse to allow my cell phone to dominate my life; it, like my body, must be under my control.)
Today, it was a phone message that made this an extraordinary day. My friend Greg Lotz in Cincinnati had been up late. At 11:17 pm God told him (that’s the only way I can explain this!) to share with me two songs, each a video. I opened them on my computer because the video is larger and the sound is better.
That’s when I was surprised by worship! Yes, worship. The first one was The Living Stones Quartet singing “Thank you Lord.” As I listened, I found myself singing with the quartet. The lyrics were on the screen. My favorite three words are “Thank you Jesus.” The three-word title of that song are repeated again and again: “Thank you Lord.” My heart was filled with joy as I sang with the quartet:
I come before You today
And there's just one thing that I want to say
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
For all You've given to me
For all the blessings that I cannot see
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
With a grateful heart
With a song of praise
With an outstretched arm
I will bless your name
For all You've done in my life
You took my darkness and gave me Your light
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
The second song stirred me even more. It was the Gaither Vocal Band singing “10,000 Reasons.” I had never paid attention to the song though I had heard of it. But the lyrics got me. I was enthralled, singing loudly, worshipping the Lord, praising him along with the Gaither singers:
Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I'll worship Your Holy name
The sun comes up
It's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass
And whatever lies before me
Let me be singing
When the evening comes
Oh my soul
I'll worship Your Holy name
You're rich in love
And You're slow to anger
Your name is great
And Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness
I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons
For my heart to find
So bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
The song is so easy to sing. The first words, repeated often in the song, are found in my wife Dean’s favorite Psalm, 103. Singing “Bless the Lord oh my soul” tripped my joy switch! Then it got better with “Sing like never before;” now I was singing as though I was in the audience! But what put me in tears and slowed my singing were the words about my strength failing. That was me. My strength is failing and I know my time is coming soon for my graduation to heaven. But I thought, I want to face that with the strong faith of this song and sing God’s praise “unending” until with a new voice I will sing His praise in heaven. Oh my soul! Try to feel what I was feeling when I sang these words with the quartet:
And on that day
When my strength is failing
The end draws near
And my time has come
Still my soul will
Sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years
And then forevermore
Forevermore
Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I'll worship Your Holy name
I'll worship Your Holy name
Jesus I will worship Your Holy name
Worship Your Holy name
Oh my soul
I love worshipping in the sanctuary with others. I need that. But this morning my home was the sanctuary. Listening to those two songs, and singing with the singers, was an awesome blessing. Alone with God, I was caught up in the incredible joy of worshipping God. Surprised? Yes! I was surprised by worship!
How did it happen? Simple. God arranged it by telling my friend to send me those two videos. It is a new idea for me. Cooperate with God. Send a video to a friend. God will do the rest. Your friend, like me, will be surprised – and blessed – by a unique but beautiful experience of worship.
Thank you Lord!