AUGUST 24, 2016

Started out this morning

In the usual way

Chasing thoughts inside my head

Of all I had to do today

Another time around the circle

Try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible

And I read about me

Said, I'd been a prisoner

And God's grace had set me free

And somewhere between the pages

It hit me like a lightning bolt

I saw a big frontier in front of me

And I heard somebody say, "Let's go"

Saddle up your horses

We've got a trail to blaze

Through the wild blue yonder

Of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our Leader

Into the glorious unknown

This is a life like no other

This is the great adventure

- Steven Curtis Chapman

PSALM 120-123

God is our everything...

1I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

2My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth. (121:1-2)

1 CORINTHIANS 6

Paul makes the point that we cannot be partly surrendered to God...

 19Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

JOURNAL 

"Night and the spirit of life calling...

And the voice with the fear of a child answers...

Wait, there's no mountain too great

Hear these words and have faith

Have faith

He lives in you, he lives in me

He watches over everything we see

Into the waters, into the truth
In your reflection, he lives in you"

I absolutely love "The Lion King". The movie, the play, the soundtrack. It is one of my secret obsessions. I connect with the story on so many levels and as a result the soundtrack has a way of undoing me emotionally...especially the tract from the play "He lives in you".  I think it's because there are many times when I have experienced and felt the safety and warmth of God's spirit in the midst of circumstances that threatened to undo me.  To feel and know that "he lives in me" has calmed some of the stormiest seas in my mind and heart.

This morning was one of those...I don't have an explanation for why but I woke up this morning with a strong feeling of discontent. Something felt off...I have these moments every so often. It is like everything seems trivial and disconnected and purposeless. It feels as if I am adrift in an ocean of confusion. It feels lost.

It is in these moments that I question my faith the most. It is in these moments when my very existence seems to not matter. It is as if I am just a meaningless grain of sand, that really doesn't matter and that is not needed.  It is easy to get lost in this space...especially when it's dark outside, everyone is still asleep, and I am all alone in my thoughts.

Here though is the miracle of God. Again as always, in these moments and these feelings of meaninglessness he shows up.  I remembered the verses and the songs and the moments of connection and I was brought back into his love. The spirit of God truly defies explanation, it is mysterious in it's movements and it's arrival always surprises me and leaves me unable to explain it's existence. The calm that comes over me when I dwell on his acceptance, love and power is priceless. It is greater than anything of this world.

6Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” - DEUTERONOMY 31:6