So I was charged with the responsibility of creating a farewell service for one of our pastors who was returning to his native Zambia. He had been a wonderful, and much loved pastor, and a treasured personal mentor to me, and we wanted to give him, not just a great send off, but a celebration of what God had done through him.
We decided to do an African song that at the time, was impacting many thousands of people in that nation and indeed, the world. I spent time writing charts, teaching the song to our team, with great expectation, trusting that God would use it to bring a real Spirit of celebration to our final service with our beloved pastor.
God didn’t disappoint. There was a palpable sense of celebration, stirred by the Spirit and God did something quite special to the whole worshipping community on that night. God was unmistakably present amongst us.
But I was about to learn a tough lesson.
Because of the seeming “success” of the song on that particular night, I decided to repeat it the following Sunday night. Nothing unusual about that. It was part of our practice to repeat a new song, but what I was desiring was the same reaction that we had the Sunday night before. Nothing wrong with that either. Who doesn’t want to experience God’s manifest presence, and see Him celebrated, and people draw close to Him every time we meet?
We sang the song again, and it fell like a lead balloon – completely flat. There was seemingly no sense of the Spirit stirring hearts – it was just another song. I was flattened spiritually and emotionally. I could not figure out what went wrong (if anything). Then God gently spoke to me and said… and here’s the lesson.
Always get fresh “Manna”.
That’s worth repeating: Always get fresh “manna”.
Strange word, but as I reflected on it, I realised that I had not sought the Holy Spirit for that particular song in the service. I had simply placed it in the song mix, relying on the song itself to stir the hearts, rather than the anointing of the Spirit in that moment. I didn’t go to God as I usually did to get His perspective and what He wanted for that particular night. Lesson learned.
Consequently, we never did that song again. It was a song for the moment that God used tremendously – but just once.
What I would encourage you to do, is to ask God about what songs to use in your worship mix each week. Yes, we need to repeat new songs in order for the people to learn them, but more importantly, we need to ask God what songs and what words we get to use in leading people to engage fully with their Heavenly Father.
Like the children of Israel who had to collect fresh manna that God provided each day (and yep – enough to cover the Sabbath), do the same with your choice of worship songs. God wants to feed His people, and He is the Great Shepherd of His sheep and will tell you the desires He has for them.
When I’ve done this, I’ve learned to trust His voice and I’ve used songs that I would never pick myself. I’ve often wondered why they had to be part of our worship. Time after time, in the singing of the song, I’ve discover that God wanted to use that song as a conduit of His grace, love and mercy to His people.
Bottom Line: Trust His voice. Go for fresh manna every week.