Hurricane season is fast approaching. I noticed my last blog few blogs were surrounding this phenomenon that my city of New Orleans is so familiar with. Hurricanes are deemed to be a very destructive force of nature, more often than not brings panic to the city...kind of like the word "bomb" in airports. The only time I hear this word being used positively is when the denizens of the city throw what you would call "Hurricane Parties".
This word is sometimes used in songs to express overwhelming power. Today was just that. A sense of overwhelming power that swept across the floors of Vintage Church, particularly the spot where I was standing. These past few months have been living hell at work as usual for all spring outages in the power plant industry. Back to back projects were not designed for 1 person to handle. Working more than 70 hours a week has been a common theme since 2008 at this plant for me. Nuff said.
Bottomline: Where does God rank when life demands your assumingly multiple attention? Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Self?
The latter question was posed by my good friend and pastor, Rob Wilton, today at service. It was a moment of self searching again. After the message, Andrew our worship leader sand the song by John Mark McMillan that many of us have come to love (How He Loves). But somehow today, the words pierced deeper than I have ever felt.
"He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
Well, I thought about You the day Stephen died,
And You met me between my breaking.
I know that I still love You, God, despite the agony.
...They want to tell me You're cruel,
But if Stephen could sing, he'd say it's not true, cause..."
Now the last verse about Stephen... was the whole reason behind McMillan writing the song. One night during a prayer meeting, one of his best friend, a youth pastor was praying and said, "Lord, I would give my life today if it would shake the youth of the nation. " Later that night, he died in a car accident. Nearly three years later, McMillian wrote this song. McMillian believes that God's will use this song and this story to shake the youth of the nation.
God is not contained by time. We may never see what we picture as "shake the youth of the nation", but the Spirit of God will never be bound by our mere human expectations. He is ALWAYS sovereign. "If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking. So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, And my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about, the way…He loves us!"
