It seems mildly cliche to post on being thankful on Thanksgiving day, but I'm sitting in my family room with my family and browsing through YouTube and Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up" just popped up. The song makes the hair on my arms stand up within the first couple of notes:
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
These words are so familiar, but powerful all the same. How often we walk through life feeling soul weary, feeling burdened. Skipping over the waiting in silence and going straight to focusing on the stormy seas comes so naturally. Still, our Heavenly Father is waiting all the while. Waiting to raise us up. Waiting to make us more than we can be on our own. In dark seasons of our lives it's so incredibly easy to miss this beautiful truth. We have a Savior who waits upon us. How paradoxical? After a few months of navigating one of the worst storms of my life, I've finally begun to see how the Lord has been raising me up even amidst the storm. So today I'm thankful for having a God, a God who I worship, a God who created the very world I live in every day, who loves me enough to wait upon me.
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him..." Psalm 37:7a
Showing posts with label Praise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Praise. Show all posts
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
go step outside
Have you ever stepped outside and been awed by nature? How about humbled by your own smallness against the backdrop of the seven billion other people that live on this planet? Stop and think for a minute. Right now. You, me, and everyone else are standing (or sitting or sleeping or running or working or playing or any other number of things) on top of a giant sphere that is spinning around in the universe. Weird? Unexplainable? Unbelievable? All of the above? Take a second to look at this video by Francis Chan, a pastor in Simi Valley, California and the author of Crazy Love, the book that inspired this blog...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ya12I036lg
Overwhelmed at your own insignificance yet? It's hard to think about the universe--the vast majority of which we cannot see--and not feel small. It's even harder to look at the world around us, the world we can see every day, and not be overwhelmed by life's complexity. I was a biology major in college, and have always loved science and had a genuine curiosity for figuring out why and how things work. Yet, the more I've gotten to know science, the more I've become convinced of God. The intricacies of the human eye or the number of muscles it takes to speak (at least 70) are enough to convince me. But even simpler than all of the complexity, just stepping outside and observing the world moves me in a way I can't really explain.
This weekend, I went hiking in Shenandoah Valley. We made camp on top of a 3,000 foot tall mountain. It was breathtaking. Two verses kept running through my mind over and over again...
"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." Romans 1:20
...and...
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it's sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit." John 3:8
Apparently, it's really windy on the top of mountains, and as we stood on the edge of this rock wall staring out over the mountain valley, I was blown away (literally and figuratively) feeling close to God. It was God visible in a way you can really only understand while you're experiencing it. I'd challenge you to go outside and just sit quietly and listen. Find a place where there isn't a lot of noise, a place where you can be alone, a place where you can simply "be still and know" (Psalm 46:10). Just sit there and be quiet and listen to God. Rather than talking to Him or asking for things or doing anything, try to hear what He has to say to you. It's hard to do, but if you can quiet your soul and your mind even for a few moments, your knowledge of God, and by extension your faith, will start to grow.
How does all of this connect to crazy love? For me, it's the inexplicable, incomprehensible thought that the same powerful God who created nature in all of its splendor, who raised mountains out of the ground, and at the same time dressed the lilies of the field, wants to take the time to not only know me, but to love me more than humanly possible. Even after standing on the edge of a mountain, I still can't understand it, but I want to know that kind of love. I need that kind of love. My soul craves it everyday, sometimes so much that my breath catches and I wonder what I'll do if I can't feel it. Thankfully, I don't have to not feel it. God is offering it freely to all of us, and nature is a good place to start to understand it.
"So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." Psalm 63:2-3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ya12I036lg
Overwhelmed at your own insignificance yet? It's hard to think about the universe--the vast majority of which we cannot see--and not feel small. It's even harder to look at the world around us, the world we can see every day, and not be overwhelmed by life's complexity. I was a biology major in college, and have always loved science and had a genuine curiosity for figuring out why and how things work. Yet, the more I've gotten to know science, the more I've become convinced of God. The intricacies of the human eye or the number of muscles it takes to speak (at least 70) are enough to convince me. But even simpler than all of the complexity, just stepping outside and observing the world moves me in a way I can't really explain.
This weekend, I went hiking in Shenandoah Valley. We made camp on top of a 3,000 foot tall mountain. It was breathtaking. Two verses kept running through my mind over and over again...
"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." Romans 1:20
...and...
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it's sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit." John 3:8
Apparently, it's really windy on the top of mountains, and as we stood on the edge of this rock wall staring out over the mountain valley, I was blown away (literally and figuratively) feeling close to God. It was God visible in a way you can really only understand while you're experiencing it. I'd challenge you to go outside and just sit quietly and listen. Find a place where there isn't a lot of noise, a place where you can be alone, a place where you can simply "be still and know" (Psalm 46:10). Just sit there and be quiet and listen to God. Rather than talking to Him or asking for things or doing anything, try to hear what He has to say to you. It's hard to do, but if you can quiet your soul and your mind even for a few moments, your knowledge of God, and by extension your faith, will start to grow.
How does all of this connect to crazy love? For me, it's the inexplicable, incomprehensible thought that the same powerful God who created nature in all of its splendor, who raised mountains out of the ground, and at the same time dressed the lilies of the field, wants to take the time to not only know me, but to love me more than humanly possible. Even after standing on the edge of a mountain, I still can't understand it, but I want to know that kind of love. I need that kind of love. My soul craves it everyday, sometimes so much that my breath catches and I wonder what I'll do if I can't feel it. Thankfully, I don't have to not feel it. God is offering it freely to all of us, and nature is a good place to start to understand it.
"So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." Psalm 63:2-3
Sunday, May 31, 2009
an introduction to crazy love...
Sunday night I witnessed a glimpse of heaven, a vision of the complete joy that awaits those who call Christ their Lord and Savior. Sunday night I travelled farther down this journey, this humbling road towards knowing God. To the lukewarm or the unbelieving Sunday night cannot be accurately explained nor can it be fully felt. It's like watching a foreign film you don't know the language of without any subtitles. It can be interesting or intriguing but, ultimately, the message is lost.
Sunday night I watched my sister in Christ--a woman I have loved and prayed for and suffered alongside and laughed with for the past two years--boldly proclaim her commitment to the Lord with palable conviction and humility in baptism. The anticipation I had going into the night and the joy I experienced because of it would seem insensible to anyone who hadn't walked this road with her. It probably seems nonsensical to some of those that have. What I do know is that the entire night I was teetering on the edge of my chair, wanting to jump up and down and shout, my arms covered in goosebumps, bursting with an inexplicable kind of crazy love.
Over the past seven months my life has been revolutionized by a love affair, and that is what this adventure into the blogging world is going to be about. Communicating a seemingly incommunicable message. Attempting to put words to paper (or computer screen) to describe the greatest love of my life. Because I cannot be quiet about it any longer. I want everyone I love and everyone who doesn't love me back and everyone I don't even know to be able to experience this crazy love.
It goes against science, against intellect, to the very inside of my self. It goes to the thread that links all humanity together. It goes to the hope, the prayer, that there is something more, something better, something that will make this present life worth it all in the end. As Paul says in his letter to the Church at Corinth, "If I have all prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing"--admittedly an absurd claim to someone who doesn't know love. What can possibly be worth more than all of the power and all of the knowlege in the world?
Simply: that someone who has all of these things freely and willingly laid them down for you and for me and for everyone else because He loves us so much. Crazy isn't it? Stay tuned for my real life glimpses of this crazy love. Maybe start looking around and see if you notice it for yourself. But be forewarned, if you do start looking for it, it's likely to catch hold and start changing your life.
Sunday night I watched my sister in Christ--a woman I have loved and prayed for and suffered alongside and laughed with for the past two years--boldly proclaim her commitment to the Lord with palable conviction and humility in baptism. The anticipation I had going into the night and the joy I experienced because of it would seem insensible to anyone who hadn't walked this road with her. It probably seems nonsensical to some of those that have. What I do know is that the entire night I was teetering on the edge of my chair, wanting to jump up and down and shout, my arms covered in goosebumps, bursting with an inexplicable kind of crazy love.
Over the past seven months my life has been revolutionized by a love affair, and that is what this adventure into the blogging world is going to be about. Communicating a seemingly incommunicable message. Attempting to put words to paper (or computer screen) to describe the greatest love of my life. Because I cannot be quiet about it any longer. I want everyone I love and everyone who doesn't love me back and everyone I don't even know to be able to experience this crazy love.
It goes against science, against intellect, to the very inside of my self. It goes to the thread that links all humanity together. It goes to the hope, the prayer, that there is something more, something better, something that will make this present life worth it all in the end. As Paul says in his letter to the Church at Corinth, "If I have all prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing"--admittedly an absurd claim to someone who doesn't know love. What can possibly be worth more than all of the power and all of the knowlege in the world?
Simply: that someone who has all of these things freely and willingly laid them down for you and for me and for everyone else because He loves us so much. Crazy isn't it? Stay tuned for my real life glimpses of this crazy love. Maybe start looking around and see if you notice it for yourself. But be forewarned, if you do start looking for it, it's likely to catch hold and start changing your life.
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