Driving Worship

I often find that when I am driving I communicate with God, and God communicates with me. I often pray and worship and love Him all at the same time while weaving in and out of traffic. There have been many times the tears simply start pouring (driving and crying are often simultaneous for me) and I've either had to pull over to side of the road until I could see again or cover my face while at a red light so the cars next to me don't see that I'm a bawling baby. It really is a beautiful thing that I wish I could package and carry with me every moment of every day. It doesn't happen every time I drive and I can't really manipulate it into being there. Once in a while, a certain line hits me from a CD (such as Over the Rhine's line "Whoever brought me here is gonna have to bring me home") or a thought crosses my mind about my salvation and redemption and I find myself aching to be in God's presence, and then I realize that on some very real level, I am already there. I listen to David Crowder Band singing "Praise, Praise the Father, Praise the Son. And Praise the Spirit three in one" (really, I love that poem by St. Francis of Assisi) and my whole being, my entire soul, longs to be with my Saviour. I wonder how to capture this awe, this desire, on a more permanant level. But maybe that's not a good desire. I'm just not sure. I mean, I do believe God wants us to be in constant worship with Him, but perhaps this looks different than simply me crying while I drive. I mean, that is a heightened sense of worship for me, but that doesn't mean worship isn't also happening at other, more subdued times, perhaps in even more beautiful and subtle ways. I'm not even close to understanding the Holy Spirit, and I think that's for the best. Perhaps when I desire to be in a more evident state of worship on a more regular schedule it is me trying to play god and decide when the Holy Spirit will move. But I do love those somewhat rare moments in the car by myself when I feel so extraordinarily close to my Creator and Saviour. Easter is coming up this weekend. It seems so early this year and I honestly haven't given it much thought until this week. Perhaps after church and after hanging out with my family and after working at the OG I will get in my car and go for a late drive, seeking out this One who died for me. He's there regardless of my seeking and hoping, but I want to find a time to really thank Him this year. Each year it seems I am more and more stricken by what happened when He was born, died, and then rose from the dead, and I hope that never changes. I hope I will long more and more to be in His presence, and until that happens, to help bring His kingdom here on Earth. I encourage you to find a time to meet Jesus this Easter. Maybe it's in the corner of your room cuddled up inside a blanket, maybe it's with your family around the Easter feast, maybe it's singing with the other struggling saints at church, maybe it's laying on a beach in Florida (for all you Spring Breakers from Taylor), or maybe it's going for a drive and believing that Jesus Christ is right there with you. Regardless, have a blessed Easter.