Ignorantly Blocked

I have been on the praise and worship team at my church for the past several years. Ushering in the people of God every Sunday morning and reminding them that when the praises go up, the blessings come down. Telling them that worship doesn’t have to be uniform but done in unity! To mentally prepare for Sunday mornings I stay prayed up and always ask God to decrease me and increase Him. I pray that the Holy Spirit has its way and that I not be distracted by distractions. A few Sundays ago, I was rehearsing before service and recognized that I was singing much louder and clearer. I began asking our media specialist if the microphones had been turned up and she informed that they hadn’t. Puzzled, I mentioned that I didn’t know why I was singing so loud and was so hyped. She then pointed out the obvious- the wooden pulpit had been removed from the altar where I sang. Let me provide a visual. I typically sang on the altar behind the pulpit but didn’t think much of its location. You see, the altar has a rectangular shape with a peak in the front. I typically moved from left to right on the altar as I sang. Never moving forward! On this particular Sunday the pulpit was gone. The media specialist then spoke a word to me. She stated that sometimes we don’t even realize how the things in front of us block us and when they’re removed we have a sense of freedom and expectation. She also stated that the physical mass of the pulpit subconsciously caused me to sing quieter. In essence, she was reminding that I mentally and physically had no barriers and God was able to work in and through me. I had been visibly blocked for so long and unknowingly ignorant about the impact. Think about it- how many times have we had things in front of us, not realizing the mental barriers they created? How often have we diminished our voices? Well, it’s time to recognize when God is removing physical and mental barriers in our life and push forward with confidence.