But what stands out to me, in the midst of life's noise, is the inexpressible, yet incredibly basic, awareness of God's voice in the midst of everything. This is the soothing noise of worship. When noise disturbs us, when we are burdened, we are called in Matthew 11:28 to rest in Christ. He is the Prince of Peace, and in him, we find peace that passes all understanding and that expands into times of work and service. Christ meets us in our labor and in our noise.
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me” begins the familiar words of Psalm 139. The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) titles this psalm, “An Inescapable God.” To me the word “inescapable” has negative connotations. We’ve been taught to value freedom and privacy. Being known, really known, is a scary notion. There is a part of each of us that is afraid of being known because we fear the anticipated rejection, certain we aren’t good enough. But yet, God knows us. All of us. Parts of us that we ourselves don’t even want to acknowledge. God knows us. All of us. Even the parts that we manage to hide from others.
It was with great excitement and a lot of gratitude that I got to go to a Taylor Swift concert with my sister. (Here is where I have to give a big shout out to my sister for managing to get affordable tickets for us!) It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I’m not speaking hyperbolically! Later, as I reflected on the Eras Tour, I realized it highlighted for me some beliefs I have about worship. So here is what I learned about worship from the Taylor Swift Eras Tour:
