sunday’s song – it is well
Earlier today I heard Max Lucado say it is hard for us to be grateful when we aren’t really feeling it, but one Thing we all can be grateful for is that We Are Forgiven! If you are in Christ, you can sing this hymn, too, “It is well with my soul.” As I was cleaning my closet, (I know, fraught with opportunity to metaphor, but I’ll resist) I was listening to Pandora and this version of “It is Well” came on. Shane and Shane invite worship into their concerts like few other Christian performers today.Would you take a few minutes and worship with a grateful heart?
a song for today
Well, things have been so busy lately with spring and weddings and beginnings. Don’t you love fresh starts? I certainly do. I work now several days a week, so the blog and other computer things seem to get lost in the shuffle. It seems when I get to the computer, I am spending so much time on business, I don’t have time for the fun stuff. But that’s a mistake–we must make time for the joy. I was reading in James yesterday at the end of chapter four, and it spoke of it being wrong to make grand plans for tomorrow and assume we even have a tomorrow. Every day, every minute is a gift from God that can’t be taken for granted. We can spend so much time worrying about tomorrow (or even over-planning) that we fail to enjoy today. It almost something we brag about–being so busy, blah, blah, blah, excuse-making for why we haven’t been in touch with people we care about. I don’t think it makes anybody feel better to know we are busy, so what is that about? Our society thinks being busy is a good thing, but it should not be mistaken for being productive. God tells us to number our days, make days count, not fill them with fluff.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately. God is telling us to slow down and ask Him what to do. And if we listen, we won’t be spinning our wheels. Our work will have eternal merit. Our priorities will shift from scratching things off a list to finding some real meaning and purpose in each day. So, as I sit with my list, I’m wondering what He would have me do this day. One of the things was write this little post and share a song I’ve been enjoying. And I feel better. What are you up to today? Do you feel the tug of the world’s demands, or have you found the peace that comes with being still long enough to listen to His plan for your day?
Sunday’s Song – “In the Cross of Christ I Glory”
We were at the ranch this weekend for another wedding, and it is simply a place that demands my full attention. I wished I could paint or sing. I try. I embarrass myself. Birds testify. They sing with the soft wind as their accompaniment. Frogs in the water bear witness with loud discussion. Even the smell of the air glorifies. As it is written, even the rocks cry out.
We are worshippers in our souls. Something deep within calls us to acknowledge and affirm that which already existed long before we got here. Our existence validates itself in communion with our Creator. That is worship, really—aligning our hearts, looking to the One who holds our life to say “You are bigger. My soul magnifies You with awe-inspired gratitude.”
So, I write. Words can paint when good. Mine seldom do. Nothing seems to capture the splendor of the moment for me. Everything points to Him, yet I know something is missing this morning. I realize my own inadequacy to fully respond. It’s Sunday, and although I feel I am more worshipful in my heart here at the ranch than I am at times in my real church, in the midst of all this beauty and evidence of Him, I still lack. I miss the corporate worship of my family in Christ standing together. I miss the baptismal font and new beginnings. I miss the feel of the Scripture in my lap, and in every hand in the room with many hearts coming hungry for a life-giving Word. There is nothing like the family of God worshipping together. So, I make a vow to be sitting in church next week and look around one more time at another kind of meeting Him place–outside, absorbing His creation on a windy spring morning.
I return to the moment that has me so caught in worship. The bride comes back to pick up a few things and she feels it, too. She stops and looks over the back lawn where all the friends and family gathered a few hours before. The people are long gone, the chairs all folded and put away. But one thing remains. There is a magnificent rustic cross that stands alone overlooking the winding creek. She pauses, then grabs her camera to snap a photo. I stand and watch as she takes it in. She knows after all the fanfare of the day before, the promises, the people, the fun—when all that is over, one Thing remains, starkly in the center—the Cross. May it be so in our lives as well, Lord.
“Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
by the cross are sanctified;
peace is there that knows no measure,
joys that through all time abide.” (“In the Cross of Christ I Glory,” John Bowring, 1825)
