Daily Delight

A couple of weeks ago I attended Colour - an annual women's conference run by Hillsong Church. It is the most incredible and empowering feeling being surrounded by almost 9,000 other believers worshiping together. But one thing made me tear up while singing. My eyes were drawn to the row reserved for the deaf women. There was a lady standing opposite them, gesturing sign language to communicate the lyrics. I immediately welled up as I watched the women completely and utterly engrossed in the moment and in love with their God. It blew me away. I could hear the drums, the guitar, the keyboard, the synthesizer, the singers, the voices of thousands of women in unison – everything. 

But they could hear nothing. 

It made me wonder whether their disability had been a catalyst for such passionate faith. Often we get distracted by all this artificial ‘white noise’ constantly surrounding us that we lose focus of what it really means to love God or worse, we lose focus of God, period. "Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you" (Proverbs 4:25, NLT). The Word tells us we must live our everyday lives while "keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith" (Hebrews 12:2, NLT). A part of me felt guilty for enjoying the beautiful chorus of sounds I could hear so easily, while another part of me was filled with an overwhelming sense of joy, compassion and awe. 

These beautiful, God-fearing women were proud of their faith and their faith was incredible. As I watched them worship their Creator with closed eyes and raised hands, I prayed that my faith would be a reflection of theirs – complete, unhidden and made manifest among others. So in a world full of chaos and distraction, ask yourself: What would my faith look like if I stripped away all of this background noise? 

{photo: @byhannahrose}

About the Author

Jessica Shipton≫ ≫ Jessica is a twenty-year old student in her third and final year at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia. She is studying a Bachelor of Communication, completing a double major in Digital & Social Media and Public Communications (Advertising). 

Jessica enjoys traveling and holds a passion for God, people and writing. Her personal blog is where these three things combine to create something special in an attempt to inspire, encourage and bless others. You can find it here!