Congregational Songs – New Songs for Corporate Worship

The Blessing of Help

January 9, 2011

I will have been a worship leader on the local church level for nine years this Thursday. In all of those years, I’ve never had to experience letting go of the reins like I had to on December 11th, 2010.

My wife began labor the day before (on Friday evening). We stayed up all night timing contractions and wondering if we needed to head to the hospital or not. 24 hours later, I was slated to lead the first of our annual Christmas Worship services at Grace, which is the biggest, most complex single worship service of the year. I had been arranging for at least a month, rehearsed with the band and choir on Tuesday and Thursday of that week, and had one of my worship leaders practice with the band on all the songs “just in case” I couldn’t make it to the service.

Well, I didn’t make it to the service. At drop-the-beat time on Saturday night, we were still counting contractions and wondering if we needed to go to the hospital. I made all kinds of calls to make sure everything was covered, and I kept racking my brain to make sure I hadn’t missed any vital piece of communication. At one point during the day, I had to say to myself, “Jeff, it’s going to be okay. Everyone is ready, and you need to be with your wife now 100%. Stop worrying your sleep-deprived mind. If you miss anything, someone will pick up the slack.” I prayed for God to take care of everything and to do His work that night, and then I let it go.

My daughter Ella was born the following morning 15 minutes before the morning worship service started (thankfully, I had the foresight to have someone else lead that service regardless of whether my daughter decided to come that day). I didn’t get to listen to the Christmas Worship service until a week and a half later. I was blown away.

More than once, I wept as the beauty of the songs and the message of Christ’s incarnation at Grace Community Church blessed my ears. And all of it happened without me. By the end of the service, I gratefully praised the Lord for his provision of help, and repented of all the worrying I had done about whether things would be okay without my direct leadership. I am so thankful for the servants in our church that stepped up to be His vessels of Grace to those who attended. And I hope I’ll be a little more willing to let go of the reins should such circumstances present themselves again in the future.

Filed under: Leading Worship