"Praise Him Like You're at a Ballgame!"

Tonight, at church, we were encouraged again to "open up," to "praise Him with all our might," to "praise Him Like You're at a Ballgame" or whatever other venue where we feel it's all right to "let it all out" and cheer and praise God with abandon...

As usual, tonight I just stood there, having an internal dialogue with God: "They have no idea what they're asking, do they?"

Well, I should start by saying that I don't give a rat's hindside who's winning a ballgame or who just scored a point or two or three or six or whatever they're scoring at the time...The most I've done is whistle loudly or clap for a team (and I often do that for whichever team did something really cool, to the chagrin of whoever is standing beside me proudly wearing school colors)...

But this "Praising Him with all your might"...???

Tonight, as they were encouraging us, I just thought, "If I really did that, if I really praised Him like that, with all my might, I would probably be hauled off to the looney bin..."

Because when I praise, often every fibre of my being responds...I can literally feeeeeel it within me, from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. I feel like my soul is a separate BEING within me, pushing itself hard against the wall of my flesh (I often feel "real" pain when this happens.) And it takes all of the self-control I have not to jump a mile high, or stand on the pew and jump as high as possible into the air, or run circles around the church and altars and whatever else I can do to expend spiritual energy while exalting my Lord!!!

Sorry, but I'm not doing that in a church service. If and when I do that, I'll do it in my prayer time or at church when no one is there...If I "unleash"--and that'll be exactly what it is--it won't be for anyone's glory but HIS. I'm no "show-boater."

But I promise you this...if and when I "unleash" for Him, I'll put EVERY OUNCE OF MY ENERGY AND BEING INTO IT, because I am FREAKING SERIOUS ABOUT HIM and LOVING HIM and THANKING HIM for EVERYTHING HE IS...

My all-time favorite song, "The Happy Song," is a song that is never-ending. It goes something like this, "I could sing unending song, of how He saved my soul. And I could dance a million miles, because of His great love..." THAT'S ME. If I ever started praising Him with all my might, I'd never stop. I can promise you that. And I'd probably keep praising until my body seized up and I went into a coma or seizures or something.

Seriously.

So, when you see me standing very still the next time they call for folks to "Praise Him Like You're at A Ballgame," maybe you'll understand why...

*smile*