I came across this song by Shirley Caesar and have been hitting the "repeat" option in my car as I drive and listen. This video is from YouTube, I have a CD with this song on it. The CD I am featuring to the right of my blog page under "Music Stirs Your Soul" has the better version of that song on the video. I have a slightly similar story that can relate to this song. No, I am not 80+ years old and I am not in a church that does not allow one the freedom to praise/worship. My experience happened many years ago.
Let me take you back to that time in my life. Before I do I must clearly state that it was a true learning experience for me and it helped form the woman that I am today. I was of Roman Catholic up-bringing and I became born again as a Catholic but did not know that since no one ever explained that to me until I took an evangelism class at a non-denominational church that also taught the word of God. I knew something was different about me back then because things and experiences began to happen to me and the Catholic Church kept sending me to spiritual directors to try and help explain to me what was happening in my life. A friend of mine introduced me to a non-denominational church and from that point forward I would gradually go there until I then became a member of the church. You must think how this type of preaching, worship, praying at the altar, etc was to me it was all fresh and new and so very different to how I use to attend mass on a Sunday or Saturday evening. It was during this time that Holy Spirit became my main teacher and He taught me through reading the bible and beginning a relationship with Jesus through this.
At this time Holy Spirit began to move through me through playing a tambourine. The only way I can describe this to you is like this...it was as if I would see or sense how to do the movements and how to play it to the music at church. I was growing in faith and stepping out in faith and for a few weeks I would sense Holy Spirit nudging me to go to the center of the platform but not on the platform at the bottom of the steps leading up to the platform and that was where I was to stand (with my eyes closed, thank God for that so I did not have to be nervous in that respect) and play during praise/worship. I was then ever so gently asked by one of the associate pastors after a service to stop doing this that my season of praising like this was up. I said OK I then began to praise in my seat. I was still exuberant when I praised. How could I not praise God for all the good He has done in my life. I really was a person that did a 180 degree turn around in my life when I asked Jesus into my heart you could say I was on fire for the Lord.
I was then asked to attend a meeting at some point I thought it was just with the mature in age, female minister at the church. I arrived on time and it was as I was walking down the corridor to the conference room where we were to meet that it felt like a noose was around my neck. I did not know why I felt like this until I entered the room and I then knew why I felt that. Holy Spirit was giving me warning of what was to come, if I knew any better back then I would have simply said no thank you and never went to this meeting and just said something inside of me is telling me to not go. I felt this because the one-on-one meeting was now a meeting with not only this female minister but another minister in the church that I was taking a leadership class with at the time and an elder in the church. This was now a meeting to bring correction to me I was told in so many words that I needed to start praising feminine (whatever that means) and if I did not abide by that an usher would be sent over to me and ask me to be seated. I was crushed and at that moment it was as though a piece of who I was created to be was sucked right out of me. I looked at the one minister with tears in my eyes and asked him why for you see, we just had a homework assignment that week and we were to look up all the scripture verses in the new and old testament in reference to your gifting/calling mine at the time was praise, worship, dance. I had my very notebook with me with the scriptures in it and I said to him with total non-comprehension why was I being asked to do this as I said I completed the homework assignment you gave to us. I was also told that there were people in church that were watching me and they thought it was a distraction. In response in my simple kind of innocence I retorted why are they watching me during praise/worship why are they not praising and worshiping them self. I did not say it with disrespect I was asking a question. I assumed that when you go to church everyone participates in praise & worship. I found out that not everyone does.
This experience crushed a part of me that very evening and it happened to be women's prayer that night and I just went into the sanctuary and cried my heart out to them and asked for prayer. I really did not understand any of this at the time. Now, throughout the years with much more wisdom acquired then back then I can look back upon this and be thankful that someone cared enough to cause me to worship with more of a gentleness if that makes sense. The very deacon that was stern with me I can joke with and thank him for all the information he gave me throughout the years in the prophetic realm for that is also part of my gifting too. That is called maturity. I, back then, may have been a stumbling block for others at church if my praise caused them to not praise because of their lack of understanding about my praise or even more so jealousy because they could not get out of their comfort zone with freedom to praise God. I was being groomed way back then for where I am today and where I will be going in the future.
Interestingly enough, I never picked up a tambourine until I was at a church that had a true worship leader as a guest there named Gary Oliver and that Sunday something was released in me that all I had to do was pick up a tambourine and it is as though Holy Spirit would play and create the music that came through me and came forth out of the tambourine. I am gifted at keeping rhythm and it seems to be with percussion type of instruments. I love those little shaker eggs because they are a softer tone for worship. I remember that we were in Jamaica for a family wedding and we were around the hotel pool, they had a strolling reggae trio that would walk around and play music. I asked if I could play the maracas (not sure of the spelling you know they are those shaker instruments) with them and I did and I kept the beat to the music of the song they played. That was fun. I guess when you are operating in your area of gifting it should be fun.
So all in all, I was not put out of that church like the video song makes mention of I actually grew to love that church and am most thankful for the training up I received there. I can walk into a church that is not the same denomination as what I attend and adapt to their type of praise/worship with respect and so as to not offend anyone or act like a runaway train. God can use your hurts and turn them around as growth and maturity in your life. If you do not have total freedom to praise God in your church then there is no one stopping you from praising Him in your home or even in your drive time in your car. One ending thought praise God for one thing that He has done in your life today, be it with word, song, dance or scripture that is in your heart.
One more thought, when I made mention that I am able to adapt to worship at a variety of churches that means I am most respectful of their way of worship. I do not bring instruments with me to their church. Even at the current church I attend I very seldom (lately) bring the little shaker egg to worship with. One more further thought God created us with built in instruments of praise already with us. Our voice is used to worship, our hands are great percussion instruments and our feet can not only dance but they can tap to the rhythm of the song in your heart.
Let us end this on a light hearted note OK. What I am about to tell you are two true incidents, they really are. My experiences with praise instruments...Usually when I praise/worship my eyes are closed and that is how Holy Spirit moves through me. Well, one service I was in the second row and behind one of the ministers in the church. I did not pay attention as to whether they were standing for praise or sitting in their seat I was just praising with my tambourine. Guess what happened? This minister was seated and all of a sudden my tambourine hit them on the head. It was not done intentionally it just happened I profusely apologized for I would never do anything like that on purpose. Second experience, I was using the shaker instruments and one of them must have been loose on the top near the handle. I was shaking away to the beat of the song and the next thing that happened...one of the tops broke away from the handle and there it went rolling on the ground. Thank God that did not hit anyone. For if it would have maybe my ending of the story may have been like the song "They wanted to put him out of the church." I hope that brought a smile to your face.
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