Hey, Friends! I know it’s been a minute since I have blogged. I am flattered and humbled that so many of you have asked me about my blog and sincerely honored that you would choose to spend some of your time reading my words.
Many things vie for my time, just as yours, but sometimes life compels me to write.
Today as my family stood in the pew to worship, the congregation was singing a song that wasn’t familiar to me. Possibly I have heard it in the past and it didn’t strike the same chord as it did today. Unfortunately, I can be dull and miss profound things more times than I care to count.
But not today. Today the words sank in my soul as words will sometimes do.
My mind flooded with many thoughts as the voices around me lifted up this song.
The words are so simple:
And all the hearts that are content
And all who feel unworthy
And all who hurt with nothing left
Will know that You are holy.
That’s everyone: Those who are content, those who feel unworthy, all who hurt with nothing left. That’s pretty much every human being on the planet, satisfied, unsatisfied, EVERYONE.
But this.
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That he is God.
It's beautiful and if you'd like to hear it in its entirety:
I feel like if I have been a decent friend to you at all, then you know that I love Jesus. You also know that I want you to have the same.
Now we hear this Christian speak, I love Jesus, and it becomes monotone, even meaningless (judging by my actions) at times.
So let me say that again.
Let it sink in.
I LOVE Jesus.
It’s not my hobby. It’s not this thing I do when nothing else is going on. It’s not a secret.
It’s my life.
EVERY other decision that I make stems from that fact. (Obviously, I don't always get it right.)
Let me also say this. If I claim to love you but I don’t plead for your soul, then love is not in me.
But that part that says:
Go on and scream it from the mountains, go on and tell it to the masses, that He is God.
I was thinking this morning, before I even heard this song, about the masses.
If you’ve ever seen the movie Titanic then maybe you recall two elements that have stuck with me over the years.
First: They knew the ship was sinking. There was no hope that it would be recovered and the musicians (I can’t remember if they were instructed to do so) kept calmly playing their instruments. They played as if everything was fine. I think they also played because they knew they were going to die. What better way to die for someone who has a love of music in their soul? What I’m pointing to is this. There was chaos all around them and they played on as if nothing was happening.
Secondly: The ship had life boats. People got on those boats and they were still clinging to their favorite companion, COMFORT. They didn’t want to fill the life boats to capacity. They didn’t want to be inconvenienced for the sake of others (destined to death others).
Friend, if you look around you, we are on the Titanic. I don’t say this to depress, but rather impress , on your heart (and mine).
There are so many beautiful things to enjoy, and I do. There is laughter, love, family. music and comfort. There are too many other lovely things to list.
But the thing is, these are all temporary things. They are passing and fleeting.
Look around! Look out your window. Look around at the grocery store. Talk to your neighbor.
People are hurting. Children are abused. The foster care system is busting at the seams without enough families to foster. People are sick and dying. There is pain and there is death all around us because this ship is sinking!
This world is broken, polluted and bitter sweet.
I don’t know where you stand in relation to your faith, but I know this.
These lives are short.
They are laced with beauty, joy, pain and sorrow. It is all part of the journey when you’re clothed in skin.
But I also know this. You have a soul and it will live eternally, somewhere.
There is a life boat and you are welcome to get in!
I am ashamed of all the times I have behaved like those people in that movie. I have clung to my own comfort when suffering is all around me. They were unwilling to scoot over, make room, and let as many people as possible squeeze in. The boats pulled away less than half way full.
It makes me think about my own life, my own boat.
Have I shouted it from the mountains? Have I told it to the masses?
If I’m going to be honest then I have to say, No. I haven’t always.
I had a friend visit my home and I knew that she did not have a relationship with Christ. I had prayed for this friend to have people in her life that would point her toward Jesus and now here she was, on her way to our home. The problem was I didn’t want to open my mouth. I wanted to just sit on it. I had an extra life jacket in my hand and didn’t want to extend it. I knew it would make her feel uncomfortable. I knew it would make me feel uncomfortable.
Who’s really into having awkward conversations? No one, right?
But here’s the other problem, I had to. So I just spilled it. I simply told the truth, “I cannot invite you to my home and act like I care about you and not know about your soul.”
That’s just how it is. Does that make me extreme? Hardly.
I can see it for what it is. There is music playing. It seems as if all is well, life is happening all around us and it’s distracting. We get up each day just like the one before, and everything seems routine, normal. But we all know how quickly life changes, in an instant, and forever. I am not promised to grow old with Adam, although that is the deepest desire of my heart. I love that man with my whole self and cannot imagine me without him.
But I have this hope, and it is secure.
Regardless of how long our lives are intertwined in this temporal life, they will be eternally joined one day. It is our instinct, of course, to cling to these lives in these bodies, but everyone knows, believer or non-believer, that we are not promised tomorrow or the even the next hour.
I want to shout if from the mountains. I want to tell it to the masses.
He is God.
In the end it is the only lasting thing.
The only thing of consequence. Either you loved Jesus and accepted him, or you did not.
Do not let the sound of the music distract you. This life, this ship, will sink.
Lets make the time count.
If you are reading this and you claim Christ, as I do, then reach out your hand and pull as many people as you can into that life boat with you!
I write this reminder more to myself than to anyone else.
I need to get more uncomfortable for the sake of others.
I must love people, truly and genuinely, and to do that is to share Christ.
Go tell it to the masses.
Happy Sunday!
Until next time,
Susan