True Worship

I have to tell you about a worship experience I had the other night. I went to a contemporary praise & worship service at a local church with a few friends. They had a band, big screens with the words to songs on them, smoke machines, the works. While it was all good, it faded into the background when I noticed the most beautiful angels sitting on the row in front of us.

We sat maybe four rows from the front. The row in front of us was inhabited by one family - what appeared to be a single dad and three daughters, all spread out. The lights were dim, music was loud, everyone was singing, a few were even dancing. Several shouted "Hallelujahs" from the rows in the back. As we stood to sing, I looked down and the youngest child had fallen asleep with her head in her father's lap. She had the most beautiful, sweet expression of complete peace on her face. How she could sleep in the midst of all the noise is beyond me. But there she was, completely out of place with the environment around her. Her father gently stroked her hair as he sang. And I worshipped in that moment. Pure love exhibited so clearly right before my eyes.

As the evening rolled on, the music never got quieter - only slower. Before long, I noticed another of the daughters. She was sitting close to the end of the row, a little separated from her older sister. She couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 years old. A white bow in her hair that could have been angels wings. One of her hands was malformed, it looked as if it had not developed properly. At one point during some song that I can't recall, she clasped her tiny little hands together - one healthy and normal, the other withered and misshapen. She clasped those perfect little hands together and bowed her head. No one had prompted her to do this. Everyone else was still singing. And there she was. And I worshipped in that moment. Pure unadulterated worship displayed right before my very eyes.

Oh, God definitely showed up that night. But it wasn't in the worship leader or the praise team. Not in the smoke machines or the fancy screens. I couldn't even tell you what the pastor spoke about. But those 2 little angels right there in our midst - that's where I saw Him. It was so vivid, so alive. His presence was so powerful, that the guitars, drums and keyboards all faded into the background. And all I could hear was the brush of angels wings mingled with the sounds of children's laughter. You know - the sound smiles make that can only be heard by the heart.