A Whole New Emotion
Posted by Bobby Hardwick | Labels: Worship | Posted On Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 12:27 AM
The preparation, the planning, the anticipation. And when the time came, my life was forever changed. I've heard hundreds of parents attempt to describe what happens in your heart, mind and soul when you see your child for the first time. In short, simple words fall short in communicating what I believe is to be a completely new emotion. As a child, I learned very quickly what it feels like to be happy, angry or sad, but 30 years later, I experienced an emotion that was completely foreign to my thought process. Quickly it consumed me and many things that seemed important before have grown dim in the light of this transformation. My dreams have changed, my goals have changed and my perception of life has changed as I made the journey from husband to father.
The birth of my daughter brought a completely new outlook on my relationship with the Lord and His heart towards His children. My experience as a father has increased my awareness of just how much the Lord loves us. When I spend time with my daughter, I love to just sit there and watch her as she plays. It actually brings me joy to see her sitting there figuring out how her hand can move and or how her voice can make different sounds. With every new discovery, I see her maturing and growing. My wife actually keeps a journal where she records every new thing that we see her do. We have hours of video footage and gigabytes of images that we share with everyone who will give us the time. (Yes, we became some of those parents) Nothing is too minor to document. We celebrate when she learns something new and it tears us up inside when we hear her cry. We want the very best for her and nothing less. This past Christmas was our first Christmas with her and instead of buying gifts for ourselves, we took more joy in showering her with gifts. Even though she is still a little young to understand the process, the pleasure that came from seeing her enjoying her new toys and wrapping paper was priceless. This new experience over the past year has caused me to focus my attention on the Lord with gratitude and thanksgiving. I see the love that God has for us in a whole new light. Instead of experiencing the love of a father from the perspective of a son, I am experiencing the love of a father as a father.
As worshipers of God, it's amazing to think that He loves and values us enough to call us His children. (1 John 3:1) Being a child of God is not something to be taken lightly. It's easy to understand the love that I have for my daughter and how deep that is. Trying to comprehend the love that comes from the Creator of that love is a whole different story. I can't even fathom the intensity of that type of love. I just think of how many pictures I take of my daughter and how much joy I had watching her during Christmas and wonder how much more the Lord enjoys every moment of our lives and how much it must break His heart when we hurt. The Bible tells us that God loves us so much (John 3:16, Psalms 103:13-18) and that He loves to give us gifts. (Matthew 7:11, James 1:17)
As we apply this whole concept of intense love to worship, it forces us to question whether it's even possible to return such a love back to God. The answer is that we don't have to. God simply requires us to receive His mercy and receive Jesus as our personal Savior. As we grow closer to the Lord, that love grows as well, automatically. We begin to experience life in a whole new light as we allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to move in us, the stronger our relationship is with the Lord. Now if you haven't made the connection yet, here's the breakdown. That intense love of the Father is passed down to us through Jesus Christ the Son. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us returns that love back to the Father. You see, it is the Holy Spirit in us that allows us love the Lord so deeply and it is God who has provided us with that love in the first place. It's amazing to think that the God of all the universe has included us in such an awesome process. The only way that I could ever thank Him enough is to surrender my entire life to Him in gratitude as an act of worship toward Him.
The 30 minutes that we get to spend together singing songs of praise to the Lord during the weekend is simply a time that we can all come to together and corporately thank God for His love that we experience every moment of our lives. It's a time of celebration. As we sing of His love, try inviting the Holy Spirit to flow through you as you take part in this ever flowing cycle of the Father's love.
Psalms 103:13-18
Psalms 139:13-14
Isaiah 64:8
Bobby Hardwick
The birth of my daughter brought a completely new outlook on my relationship with the Lord and His heart towards His children. My experience as a father has increased my awareness of just how much the Lord loves us. When I spend time with my daughter, I love to just sit there and watch her as she plays. It actually brings me joy to see her sitting there figuring out how her hand can move and or how her voice can make different sounds. With every new discovery, I see her maturing and growing. My wife actually keeps a journal where she records every new thing that we see her do. We have hours of video footage and gigabytes of images that we share with everyone who will give us the time. (Yes, we became some of those parents) Nothing is too minor to document. We celebrate when she learns something new and it tears us up inside when we hear her cry. We want the very best for her and nothing less. This past Christmas was our first Christmas with her and instead of buying gifts for ourselves, we took more joy in showering her with gifts. Even though she is still a little young to understand the process, the pleasure that came from seeing her enjoying her new toys and wrapping paper was priceless. This new experience over the past year has caused me to focus my attention on the Lord with gratitude and thanksgiving. I see the love that God has for us in a whole new light. Instead of experiencing the love of a father from the perspective of a son, I am experiencing the love of a father as a father.
As worshipers of God, it's amazing to think that He loves and values us enough to call us His children. (1 John 3:1) Being a child of God is not something to be taken lightly. It's easy to understand the love that I have for my daughter and how deep that is. Trying to comprehend the love that comes from the Creator of that love is a whole different story. I can't even fathom the intensity of that type of love. I just think of how many pictures I take of my daughter and how much joy I had watching her during Christmas and wonder how much more the Lord enjoys every moment of our lives and how much it must break His heart when we hurt. The Bible tells us that God loves us so much (John 3:16, Psalms 103:13-18) and that He loves to give us gifts. (Matthew 7:11, James 1:17)
As we apply this whole concept of intense love to worship, it forces us to question whether it's even possible to return such a love back to God. The answer is that we don't have to. God simply requires us to receive His mercy and receive Jesus as our personal Savior. As we grow closer to the Lord, that love grows as well, automatically. We begin to experience life in a whole new light as we allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to move in us, the stronger our relationship is with the Lord. Now if you haven't made the connection yet, here's the breakdown. That intense love of the Father is passed down to us through Jesus Christ the Son. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us returns that love back to the Father. You see, it is the Holy Spirit in us that allows us love the Lord so deeply and it is God who has provided us with that love in the first place. It's amazing to think that the God of all the universe has included us in such an awesome process. The only way that I could ever thank Him enough is to surrender my entire life to Him in gratitude as an act of worship toward Him.
The 30 minutes that we get to spend together singing songs of praise to the Lord during the weekend is simply a time that we can all come to together and corporately thank God for His love that we experience every moment of our lives. It's a time of celebration. As we sing of His love, try inviting the Holy Spirit to flow through you as you take part in this ever flowing cycle of the Father's love.
Psalms 103:13-18
Psalms 139:13-14
Isaiah 64:8
Bobby Hardwick
Truelly amazing bro. Was an honor to read your posting, being a father and knowing how much I love and adore my little guy....still I can't even begin to fathom the love that God has for me. The reason I give my all during worship is to thank him for all he has done, does now, and will always do for me as long as i remain faithful to him and cling to my rock with my entire body wrapped around His. Once again, thanks for sharing about your pride and joy bestowed upon you by God, which you told me when I started my walk. Congratulations Bobby, its an honor to call you a friend.