You Are Worthy of It All

Tonight, in Mass, I listened to our musicians sing “Worthy of It All” and comprehended the words for perhaps the first time.

You are worthy of it all,
you are worthy of it all,
For from you are all things,
And to you are all things,
You deserve the glory.

As I prayed over those lyrics and lifted my hands in worship, I realized I had not been holding the Lord worthy in all his greatness. I have been holding onto pain and confusion the last few months and not truly giving it all to Him. I have been trying to carry the load as if it is my own. I have turned to God in prayer, but I have not given him the anxiety and fret. I have not trusted Him to calm me.

Tonight, as I prayed those lyrics, it hit me how truly worthy the Lord is of my pain. Of the affliction. I need to hand it over to him. He is worthy of even my most trivial fears and even more of the great weights that sit on me. He is worthy to talk to about them.

He is worthy of the glory of my life too. The little joys, the friends that have been there repeatedly this year, the moments of peace, heartfelt moments with my family, laughter, the call He’s given me to evangelize and go on missions, and more. He has showed up time and time again, and I fail to recognize it or thank Him for it. I fail to give Him the glory.

God is worthy of all of it. He doesn’t want us to hold back hard things. He asks us to bring them to Him unafraid, unpolished, unashamed, unsure of the outcome. To recognize that He is worthy of ALL of it – the good, bad, and ugly. But He waits on us to bring it to Him. He doesn’t push or pry. He gives us the free will to make the choice.

HE IS WORTHY. And in return, He says I am worthy of his love, forgiveness, and more.

When I think of God being worthy, I know He doesn’t want me to calmly pray to Him every day. He wants me to bring the emotional wreck of a day to Him and say, “Lord, this is too much and I cannot handle it alone, it is yours.” He wants to cry with me. He wants to hold me in the way a Father does and comfort me. He wants me to joyfully call to Him – “Lord! Today was GOOD! Thank you for the sunshine today!” He wants the unreserved pieces of each of us that make us truly special in the way any parent would, and wants to meet us in whatever stage we are in. He is worthy of even our most frustrated and emotional self. He wants all of it.

As you think about the Lord being worthy in this context, I invite you to reflect on the following:

• How often are you spending time with the Lord? Is it a few minutes multiple times a day, a more in-depth routine, or as you can fit it in?
• What does prayer look like for you? Do you have a poised discussion with God or is it raw? Do you share the emotions you are truly feeling with Him?
• What is one area of your life you can begin sharing more depth with God? In which space do you need Him to enter? Where are you lacking trust? Is there anything you are keeping from God?
• How often are you giving the glory to God and reflecting on your blessings? How do you give praise (prayer, worship, spreading joy, etc.)? Is this an area you can grow in?

I invite you to pray over your responses:

Jesus, as I move forward, I pray you give me the strength to turn to you in the hard times – not to hide or be ashamed – but to realize how worthy you are of the pain, the glory, and the mundane alike. Help me to recognize that I am valuable to you in any form. You want it all. I pray for the will to hold nothing back but to lay it all at the foot of the cross and come to the altar with open arms. I trust you will be there in my best and worst moments. You will hold or carry me through the tough times, walk with me in the ordinary times, and run through fields of daisies with me in the good times. You are worthy of my time and conversation, no matter the topic. And Jesus, how worthy of the praise you are. Thank you for shedding the blood for my sins. Thank you for melding my heart to yours little-by-little every day. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.