You Don't Have To Be Visible To Be Vital

As I sat in that church service wondering whether it was time to step back in the light, the Lord said to me, “You don’t have to be visible to be vital.”

I’ve been taking a break from leading worship for over a year. My pastor has been so understanding about my need to heal and receive. But the truth is I’ve been getting a little antsy. You know when a wound starts to scab over and gets itchy, and you make the mistake of creating a fresh open wound because you didn’t want to endure the totality of the healing process? I’m there. I started to think that maybe it’s time for me to return to serving. I miss it.

The issue is I don’t know what it’s like to serve God in the stillness. I’ve never had to do it. And when you are used to doing the most, the stillness feels like stagnancy. I want to be doing something. But why? What does doing something accomplish?

I believe in serving in the local church, and I’m not advocating against it. However, asking what “doing something” accomplishes is more of investigating my motives. Why can’t I be still? What am I trying to escape that stillness causes me to confront? That’s the real issue here. Many of us use “doing something” to avoid the things that speak so loudly in the silence of stillness. As long as we’re busy, we can avoid it. But God is calling many of us to embrace the confrontation we’re running from.

I have a LOT of gifts. I lead worship, play guitar, write music, lead intercession, teach, preach, do youth ministry, hospitality, write curriculum, and work the altar. Everything except dance. So, there is always a space for me to do something, even if it’s not my main gift of

leading worship.

Always having something to do keeps me from confronting the areas of my life that aren’t so glamorous, that don’t come so easy, that God is still perfecting. Silence amplifies the enemy’s voice that ‘I’m not worthy to do the visible things because the invisible things are still under renovation.’ But stillness, when done properly in God’s presence, reminds me that my worth was never found in my process. My worth is determined by the shed blood of Christ. (I’m expensive, right?!).

Doing something or nothing is not as important as learning the lesson that God is with me in the stillness. So antsy and all, I will wait for him to say, “It’s time.” And I will embrace everything He chooses to do in me, in this stillness. I’m still important, or vital if you will, even if my serving isn’t visible right now.