This song has been playing in my head so much lately. It is pretty much what I feel when I think of God. What Do I Know of Holy by Addison Road I made You promises a thousand times I tried to hear from Heaven But I talked the whole time I think I made You too small I never feared You at all No If You touched my face would I know You? Looked into my eyes could I behold You? (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? I guess I thought that I had figured You out I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about How You were mighty to save Those were only empty words on a page Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? (CHORUS 2) What do I know of Holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame? And a God who gave life “its” name? What do I know of Holy? Of the One who the angels praise? All creation knows Your name On earth and heaven above What do I know of this love? (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of Holy?
I am silver refined in the fire I am shaped, I am hammered on the anvil of God I am slowly releasing the muck and the mire Each day that I wait I grow less and less flawed. I am a song in the blackest darkness A soft note of hope in the cold of the night I am a melody written by His hand A gentle harmony in the midst of the fight. Anthem Pt 2 I think it’s kind of funny that my mother-in-law sent me and my husband a list of 60-odd things that we are in Christ (from a woman they’ve been working with) the day before I wrote Anthem Pt 1. I guess God wants me to remember these things, too. My necklace is silver (the chain is), sort of. It’s kind of that silver that you get after it’s been in the shower a million times. But anyway, it holds the charm with the pearl. A long time ago (it seems) a dearly missed friend told me that I was a Psalmist. I really miss her wisdom and counsel. Her words have echoed in my mind for a long time. I’m not sure what a Psalmist is or what a Psalmist does. It seems that God is calling my husband into a difficult ministry; I hope that being a Psalmist is a way to support him as he prays to set the captives free! Other Notes In Genesis 1:3-4 did you ever notice that God created the light and the darkness (as well as the earth, plants, water, etc.) long before He created the sun and the moon and the stars? Those things didn’t get created until the 4th day! The light that God created was enough to make plants grow and to separate the waters. The sun and moon and stars were signs to mark seasons, and kind of as an afterthought to give the earth light. The light was already there. I wonder, if the sun and moon and stars weren’t there, would there still be light? I guess, short of God restructuring gravity, the tides would get really messed up… but what’s a small detail like that when He can speak and all of creation springs from His breath?
Luke 1:46-55 Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.” This is Mary’s song, the Magnificat. She sung it a few days after the angel told her she would have a baby. My pastor spoke on this song yesterday at church and I wanted to write down some of what he said because it kind of stuck out to me. Magnificat 1. Magnification – to magnify something is to make it bigger. Mary is making God bigger. She is about to have to tell her fiance that she’s pregnant (and no, no one’s the father), she’s facing possible stoning for adultery (because people might have a hard time believing it was all God’s fault), and, if she’s anything like me, she’s probably pretty overwhelmed with the implications of everything. But instead of dwelling on the past and on the possible, dangerous, implications of the future, Mary magnifies God. She focuses on Him and His faithfulness to past generation. So now, instead of being terrified of the prospects of the future, she’s praising God for His mercy and ability to work it all out. And that’s what I should do, too. There are plenty of situations where I don’t know what to do, I feel overwhelmed, or everything seems to be falling apart. Instead of making my problem bigger and bigger (magnifying it), I need to remember to focus on God and what HE can do (magnifying Him). Instead of focusing on the storm, focus on the One who is bigger than the storm and who can calm the storm with a whisper. Milestones 2. Mary (and Israel in general) looked back to milestones in the past where God had shown His faithfulness in difficult situations. It’s easy to leave breadcrumb trails of where we’ve seen God working, but if we leave breadcrumbs the birds (satan) will come and eat them, and then were is our trail? Instead of bread, leave milestones, boulders, rocks, or a written record that keeps track of all the times when God made appearances in the past. That way, when we’re facing a tough situation, we can look back at that record or those stones and be reminded that God was faithful then and He’ll be faithful now. Don’t let Satan swallow those memories because if he can get you to forget God’s faithfulness in the past, he can really make a mess of things in your present and future. Lifesong 3. Each person has a lifesong that God has created them to sing. To be honest, I’m not sure I know what mine is. I kind of feel like the words of the song are muffled and hidden, that the melody of the music is lost in the jumble that is my daily life. Even in the quietness of 5am, I don’t really hear it. I know I am created for a purpose, and since I’m still here, God has need of me. But that song is elusive. There have been times in my life when the song has been trumpeting out its melody and it’s seemed easy to follow, but then life happens and I’m not sure if I was hearing the melody or following someone else’s song. Anyhow, there is a song, Mary had a song, Zechariah had a song, so many people in the Bible had a song. I’m sure it’ll come out one of these days.
Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my victory. He is my God, and I will praise him; he is my father’s God, and I will exalt him! In church yesterday, Joe Loveless (or pastor’s son) spoke in the kickoff of our Christmas season message. He spoke about finding the song we’ve been given to sing, the story that we’ve been given to tell, the God sightings that happen in our lives that we need to remember and share with others. It was awesome! It reminded me of the original purpose of this God Hunt… to record the ways that I see God and the ways that I find God in my life. To some degree this blog’s purpose hasn’t changed much, although I think that sometimes it becomes more of a journal of my journey through the Bible than a journal of my God sightings. So with that in mind, I thought I’d recall a few of the God sightings I’ve had that stick out in my mind (and continue to watch and record them as I go forward). God Sightings: * The most vivid God sighting in my history is when God sat with me in my living room in 2003. No, literally sat with me. I couldn’t see Him, but He was brilliantly and boldly there. I still get teared up thinking about it. It was overwhelming, encouraging, powerful, and loving. My God came and held me and strengthened me. It was indescribable. * The birth of my children is a daily God sighting. He created them perfectly and amazingly. They are beautiful and hilarious (a sure sign that God has a sense of humor and irony)! They are full of boundless energy and they make me smile just to think about them (okay, they also make me want to pull my hair out sometimes… but isn’t that how it goes?). * My husband and I still have jobs. I teach. My husband manages the front drive valet at a hotel around here. Considering the budget cuts of late, it’s amazing that either of us (much less both of us) have jobs! Watching God work and do miracles in that area reminds me that He’s there and He’s working. * Last week during the service. Last weekend, last Sunday specifically, was rough. There were pie-crust promises made and broken, things I had been looking forward to didn’t happen, and I felt betrayed and lonely. Until God spoke to me. All my life music has been incredibly important, and it’s played a big role in how God speaks to me. Sure enough, the second song we sang (Everywhere that I Go by Israel Houghton) spoke straight to me. It’s all about how God keeps His promises and is always there, everywhere that I go. It’s incredible. Check out the church’s media page for the song and for other things, like this week’s service (the song is under the service titled, “My Favorite Things”). There are more, but I’m out of time. I’ve got to get myself and the boys ready for school! Happy Monday!