My Son

I have been so proud of my son, Isaiah, lately. No matter what anyone else around him is doing at church, he has been praising the Lord. he doesn't care what anyone thinks of the way he has been doing it. I could take a personal lesson from him. There have been times that I've wanted to stand up and shout, but there was always the fear that someone would look at me weird. I guess that's one of the reasons God tells us to come before him like a child. A child has complete faith. He doesn't care what others think. He does it anyway. There has been times that people have told him to stop. There have been times when people have been giving him dirty looks. During those times, I tell him to keep praising God. My mother tends to say that if people's minds are truly on God, if they are truly worshipping Him, they will be just like Isaiah. They won't care what everyone else is doing. They won't be distracted. They will be wrapped up in him. There is a song by MercyMe called Unaware. It describes this feeling. "Unaware of my fears. Unaware of my shame. Nothing else matters here, but glorifying your name. I'm unaware of everything knowing you're aware of me." When my child turns 15, I will still tell him that if he feels like praising God by running around the pews, then by all means do so. I will back him up all the way. David from the Bible danced around town in his skippies to praise God. Onlookers showed disgust in this approach, but he didn't care. It was for God, not them. That's how we should approach worship. We are there to worship God, not see the praise team. We are there to love him, not take part in traditional activities. Isaiah does not do all the shouts of "Amen! Hallelujah! Hey! Jesus!" at home. He only begins his praises during worship time. That's how I know he's not just doing what a normal two year old does at home, but that he is truly praising the one who gave him life. I and everyone else can learn from the lesson my son teaches. One of my prayers comes from a song by MaryMary. "Take these shackles off my feet so I can dance. I just want to praise him!" I have shackles of shame, shackles of pride, shackles from fear of rejection. These shackles were given to me at an early age by church people who looked at me and said, "You don't praise God that way." I know in my heart that you can praise God anyway you want. I know that when Isaiah praises him, God is looking down with a huge smile on his face, and a tear in his eye saying, "Look at that little fellow. He's my son." I pray that he never gets told to stop praising the way church elders have told me. I pray he remains free from the world's shackles. And I pray that the shackles on the church world begin to be broken. That's how revival begins.