storms

Hillsong and the Night Ride Home

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I went to a Hillsong United concert at Allen Arena at Lipcomb University today, which I highly recommend you go see them if they are playing anywhere near you. As in 500 miles or less. They are that good.

Honestly, it was one of the most worshipful nights that I can remember. A top 5 night for sure. There was so much freedom and joy in the worship that made 2 1/2 hours seem like no time at all. The twenty minutes I spent looking for where I parked seemed a lot longer.

The song they closed with was Take Heart, a reminder that whatever you’re going though, God is able to get you through. In fact, He has already overcome whatever you’re facing. These are the lyrics for those who are living in the midst of those troubles Jesus promised we would go through:

“All our failure And all our fear
God our love He has overcome
All our heartache And all our pain
God our healer He has overcome

All our burdens And all our shame
God our freedom He has overcome
All our troubles And all our tears
God our hope He has overcome

All our failures And all our fear
God our love He has overcome
God our justice God our grace
God our freedom He has overcome

God our refuge God our strength
God is with us He has overcome”

Ok, so I normally don’t quote nearly an entire song, but I think this one merits it. Anything you can possibly imagine facing, anything remotely out there that is set against you, God has already taken care of.

As for the night ride home, I made it home with no GPS or maps and the window rolled down. It took less time to get home than it took to find my car. And now I go to bed or else tomorrow I’ll be one of the living dead zombies.

Thanks for allowing me to share my heart and my thoughts, even when they come from a sleepy brain. It’s been fun posting these and I hope to continue it for a while. God bless all of you.

Those Terrible, No-Good, Very Bad Days

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

Alexander had his terrible, no good, very bad day. So I read as a kid. I can relate. I’ve had my share of terrible, no good, very bad, sucky, wishing it would end days. For a little while, today was one of those days.

Then I remembered something. Faith doesn’t grow in my wonderful awesomely good nothing bad days. Faith matures and gets stronger on those terrible no good very bad days. You find your faith when everything else seems to be going wrong and your day has disaster written all over it.

When the job starts feeling too much like work and not enough like a calling, faith grows. When you struggle with what normally would come easy to you, faith matures. When it seems like one bad thing happens right after another, like tidal wave after tidal wave, your faith is made real.

The faith that says that if you believe, you won’t ever struggle or have problems or suffer isn’t real. Just like a butterfly only gets strong by fighting its way out of a cocoon, so your faith only grows muscles when you’re in the midst of dark, stormy days with the wind blowing and waves crashing and you getting pounded.

I always heard that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that matters. I think it’s not about great big faith in God that counts, but faith in a great big God. It’s not how strong your faith is all the time, but how your faith is in the God Whose strength is unwearying and unending.

The best part about some days is that they end. For me, the best part about my work day is that it’s now past tense. It’s over. I never have to go back that Monday ever again. I don’t know if tomorrow will be better, but I know the same God that got me through today will be there tomorrow.

That calls for a celebration, I think!

Faith in the Dark

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 3 Comments

Today’s sermon was about Jesus calming the storm in Luke 8. The main question that Jesus asked them (and I think He asks us) is “Where is your faith?” Is your faith in yourself, a kind of “I think I can” mentality?Is it a conditional faith in God that says, “I’ll do X if You do Y back? The question the pastor asked was, “When all your props are taken away, who or what do you trust?”

When skies are sunny and the bank account is full and you’re in a season of plenty and blessing, it doesn’t take much faith. You don’t need faith as much for calm seas and cloudless skies. Only when the storm is coming do you see the need for faith. Only in the dark does faith grow.

Faith grows in the middle of bad news from the doctor, hurt and pain from your own family, marriages that end, pink slips from employers, and things like that. When all you have to hold on to is God, you really find out how big and strong He is to save.

The part about that story that I never thought about is that Jesus was with the disciples the whole time. From the first raindrop and gust of wind through the maelstrom to the end, Jesus was there. He was even sleeping though the worst of it.

That tells me that when I am in my stormy seasons of life, I am not alone. It may seem like God is asleep or AWOL, but I know from everything the Bible tells me and everything I’ve seen over the span of my life that God is near. God is with me. He has not left nor will He ever.

The kind of faith you need is not the “I think I can” variety, but the “I know God can” type. The “He is more than able” kind.

Just for the record, I have to give credit to Michael Easley for the inspiration for this blog. Pretty much this is his sermon put in my own words. I guess it’s a good thing this is not a school paper, or I’d have to do a whole mess of footnotes. And double spacing and margins.

I’m so glad I’m not in school anymore.