These four little words consisting of 9 letters, in times of trouble may seem harsh.  Imagine Saul as he traveled down the road to Damascus, with his partners.  Letter in hand - doing what he perceived to be the work of God.  Off to persecute believers.  Many times what we plan in the name of the Lord, is not necessarily the purpose God has for us.  Our plans are not always His purpose.  Saul evidently had never actually waited to hear what God desired for him to do .... he merely went on hearsay - of the teachings of others --- who were basing what they knew on what their forefathers had taught them.  In our Christian Walk, we must know the word for ourselves, have a relationship with God for ourselves - so that when we travel our roads, and Jesus steps before us to change our course of action...... we will recognize that "and so it is" moment as a pivotal moment...turning our lives around.  Here Saul was.... bright light...couldn't see around it... and when he asked "who is it"  Jesus replied, "It is I, Jesus, the one you persecute."  When we are working our plan and not God's purpose - we are persecuting God!  Jesus was stating to Saul... "and so it is".  True - these words probably didn't make Saul feel too good about himself.  In fact, often when the Lord speaks, it doesn't feel "Fuzzy Wuzzy", it may not comfort the flesh, but it does convict the spirit.  "And so it is" sounds sooooo ominous.  Because we desire to know what is...is.  Saul gazed into a bright light and was blinded.... couldn't see past the light...around the light....just light.  Heard a command..... When God speaks to us, we want to know what will happen when we do as He directs.  If He tells us to step out of a job  =- we want to know what will happen before we do as He commands.  If He says go minister in a foreign land, we want to know the particulars before we tell Him, "here am I send me"  But when we adhere to His words "And so it is" we are not so concerned about what is is, because we are assured about who He is.  And So It Is ----  When we understand that even though we cant see what is to come, God is looking behind us and seeing what is about to consume us....And so it is...... though we may not understand why He wants us to move, we move because we have learned to Trust in the Lord with all our hearts and we don't lean on our own understanding ---- BUT IN ALL OUR WAYS WE HAVE LEARNED TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL DIRECT OUR PATH.....So, whatever our is may be, we are certain that God Is!... And So It Is!

Worship means two things to me. First, Romans 12:1 comes to mind: "in view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship." What God really wants is to help us take our everyday, ordinary life -- our sleeping, eating, working-outside-the-home or working-inside-the-home life -- and place it before Him as an offering. Embracing what God does for us is the best thing we can do for Him. That is worship in the broad sense.

Second, worship is the activity of glorifying God in His presence with our voices and hearts. I don’t know about you, but this is one of my favorite ways to worship. I feel as though I can best let Him know how I really feel about Him by singing songs to Him. I also love to watch others sing, especially when they aren't inhibited by the sound of their own "not-so-perfect" voices, or how they look. I am always inspired when I see the same young man down at the front of our church in the first pew week after week. He attends every service in the morning, even though all three are the same. He sings his heart out and he dances around like nobody’s looking. The joy I feel when I watch him probably doesn’t compare to the joy and pleasure God feels.