The other night, my wife, Charis and I were putting our daughter Carolina to bed. She’s getting better at going to sleep, but most nights she has to cry herself to sleep. Sometimes it’s only a brief small whimper as she struggles to keep her eyes open. Other times it’s an ear-piercing shrill of a scream that makes you think she’s being murdered.

On one of those very nights, I walked back into her room and looked over her crib. She was so visibly upset. Her face was red. Her little arms and legs were pumping. So I reached down and started patting her on her back. Within a minute she had calmed down and was dozing off to sleep.

I’m not sure why she has these fits. Maybe it’s gas. Maybe she’s just making sure that Charis and I are still there and watching over her. Looking in parallel to the relationship I have with Jesus though, I know that when I have those times, He knows exactly what I’m feeling. He knows specifically what’s going through my mind. He reaches down and He happily pats me on my back to calm me down.

God speaks to us in many ways. Probably the most obvious is the Bible. We have the opportunity to read it, reflect on it, ask questions of other Christians, etc... There is also one other thing that it’s wonderful for comforting us when we’re hurting. I don’t believe that’s the only thing that God uses to comfort us though. He can use other Christians, acts of complete strangers, and even music.

Music has always been something special to me, and it’s amazing to see how God can take something like music and use it to help me when I’m hurting. It can be a pleasant chord progression through a major key, or a simple melody line that sticks with you and reminds you of who God is.

So why is worship important to me? This is why. Because time and time again, God has reached down to me and used it as a way show me He’s here, that He cares, and He hasn’t gone anywhere.