Audrey Assad has magic in her voice and her pen. She writes my prayers and she doesn't even know it. I have mentioned it already this month, but I love it when I hear songs that feel like I could have written them if I had the words for it. They proclaim the cry of my heart or at least the cry I want to come from my heart. This song is no exception. God is so good to us and nothing can steal our joy. Even when it seems like nothing is going right and everything is falling all around us, we can rest in Him and put our trust in Him and He will still be good.
"Good to Me"
I put all my hope on the truth of Your promise
and I steady my heart on the ground of Your goodness
When I’m bowed down with sorrow I will lift up Your name
and the foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy
Because You are good to me, good to me
You are good to me, good to me
You are good to me
I lift my eyes to the hills where my help is found
Your voice fills the night, raise my head up and hear the sound
Though fires burn all around me I will praise You, my God
and the foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy
Because You are good to me, good to me
You are good to me, good to me
You are good to me
Your goodness and mercy shall follow me
all my life
I will trust in Your promise
Because You are good to me, good to me
You are good to me, good to me
You are good to me
Showing posts with label Audrey Assad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audrey Assad. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2015
Friday, March 21, 2014
Growing Pains
One of the hardest lessons I've ever learned is that it's okay for people to not like me.
Actually, I'm still learning it.
Something I heard a lot growing up is that there will always be someone in your life who is hard to love. It could be a family member, a classmate, a coworker, an acquaintance, etc. There could be more than one person at a time, but there will always be someone. Usually that person is actually a lot like you, but you'd hardly ever want to admit that. You clash because you're alike or because you traditionally fill the same roles within a group--except this time, there are two of you and only one place to fill. That's when we have a choice to make. We can focus on the good and see the benefit of having that person around...their strengths, what they bring to the table that no one else can bring, what makes them unique, their spiritual gifts. Or we can let our pride take over and act like they are insignificant.
We can share our group. Our space. Our friends. Or we can be selfish and stubborn and set in our ways and our "spot".
The problem with having a "spot" is that sometimes we get so focused on where we always are, who we're always with, what we always do, that we miss out on good things. Not every change is good, but a lot of them are, and there's only one way to really find out if the upcoming change is going to be good or bad. We have to try it and see.
There are some things that are non-negotiable, but for everything else--the details--we can afford to have a little wiggle room. We can try out a different role in the group--one that may suit us better in the long run. We can share responsibilities and free up more time to spend with the people we love. We can move on from one activity and make room for others to enter while allowing ourselves to try something new. There's a lot of promise in new things--in changes, but there's also a lot of uncertainty, and that is sometimes scary. Some people find uncertainty exciting. I am not one of those people. But looking back on my life, I see that most of my growth and character building has come from times of uncertainty. It's not always easy to see it when you're in the middle of it. God has allowed me to be aware of some pruning that's happening in my life this Lenten season , and it's been a different experience for sure. One that I wouldn't change. Life is hard. We live in a fallen world that keeps racing further and further away from God, and (if you're a Christian) we feel constantly out of place in this world because our citizenship is in heaven.
We can try to please people or we can try to please God. If we try to please people, we will always fail. Everything we do will upset someone. Our world is so divided on so many issues that it would be impossible to try to make everyone like you. But we can please God. Not on our own because we are born sinners and God cannot be around sin. But through Jesus. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, we can be made new. Made whole. Made clean. Made into something that God can be pleased by and take great delight in. His creations who have chosen to pursue Him and a relationship with Him. God is pleased by that. The Christian life is not a checklist of good things we do. It's a two sided relationship that we need to invest in. The closer we get to God, the more we are able to see this world through His eyes and to see what His plan is for us.
I want that. I want to please God more than I want to please people. I forget that sometimes.
The counterpart to what everyone told me about always having someone in your life who is hard to love is something that NO ONE has ever said to me. Sometimes I am going to be that hard to love person for someone else.
My job is not to try to change myself or my behavior to appease people who do not like me. My job--my JOY--is to try to live a life that is pleasing to God. I cannot control the actions or opinions of others any more than I can control the weather (I can't control the weather, by the way). But I can control how I act, how I respond, how I react to others--with the help of God. I can't be perfect on my own. It's impossible. And I will still mess up even if I'm trying to let God dictate my life. I will still step on toes, hurt feelings, and offend. That much is inevitable. However, I can also hopefully encourage, build up, and offer healing to the people around me.
I've talked about my "Lent Theme Song" or "Lent Anthem" here before. The hardest verse for me to listen to is the one that says:
I am trying with everything inside me to sing that with conviction. To mean it. To crave the goodness of God over the things of this world. But it is a process. Lent always is. And I'm always amazed at the things God teaches me through this process. Every year is different and every lesson is perfect.
There is pain in growth.
But there is even more joy in being made whole.
Actually, I'm still learning it.
Something I heard a lot growing up is that there will always be someone in your life who is hard to love. It could be a family member, a classmate, a coworker, an acquaintance, etc. There could be more than one person at a time, but there will always be someone. Usually that person is actually a lot like you, but you'd hardly ever want to admit that. You clash because you're alike or because you traditionally fill the same roles within a group--except this time, there are two of you and only one place to fill. That's when we have a choice to make. We can focus on the good and see the benefit of having that person around...their strengths, what they bring to the table that no one else can bring, what makes them unique, their spiritual gifts. Or we can let our pride take over and act like they are insignificant.
We can share our group. Our space. Our friends. Or we can be selfish and stubborn and set in our ways and our "spot".
The problem with having a "spot" is that sometimes we get so focused on where we always are, who we're always with, what we always do, that we miss out on good things. Not every change is good, but a lot of them are, and there's only one way to really find out if the upcoming change is going to be good or bad. We have to try it and see.
There are some things that are non-negotiable, but for everything else--the details--we can afford to have a little wiggle room. We can try out a different role in the group--one that may suit us better in the long run. We can share responsibilities and free up more time to spend with the people we love. We can move on from one activity and make room for others to enter while allowing ourselves to try something new. There's a lot of promise in new things--in changes, but there's also a lot of uncertainty, and that is sometimes scary. Some people find uncertainty exciting. I am not one of those people. But looking back on my life, I see that most of my growth and character building has come from times of uncertainty. It's not always easy to see it when you're in the middle of it. God has allowed me to be aware of some pruning that's happening in my life this Lenten season , and it's been a different experience for sure. One that I wouldn't change. Life is hard. We live in a fallen world that keeps racing further and further away from God, and (if you're a Christian) we feel constantly out of place in this world because our citizenship is in heaven.
We can try to please people or we can try to please God. If we try to please people, we will always fail. Everything we do will upset someone. Our world is so divided on so many issues that it would be impossible to try to make everyone like you. But we can please God. Not on our own because we are born sinners and God cannot be around sin. But through Jesus. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, we can be made new. Made whole. Made clean. Made into something that God can be pleased by and take great delight in. His creations who have chosen to pursue Him and a relationship with Him. God is pleased by that. The Christian life is not a checklist of good things we do. It's a two sided relationship that we need to invest in. The closer we get to God, the more we are able to see this world through His eyes and to see what His plan is for us.
I want that. I want to please God more than I want to please people. I forget that sometimes.
The counterpart to what everyone told me about always having someone in your life who is hard to love is something that NO ONE has ever said to me. Sometimes I am going to be that hard to love person for someone else.
My job is not to try to change myself or my behavior to appease people who do not like me. My job--my JOY--is to try to live a life that is pleasing to God. I cannot control the actions or opinions of others any more than I can control the weather (I can't control the weather, by the way). But I can control how I act, how I respond, how I react to others--with the help of God. I can't be perfect on my own. It's impossible. And I will still mess up even if I'm trying to let God dictate my life. I will still step on toes, hurt feelings, and offend. That much is inevitable. However, I can also hopefully encourage, build up, and offer healing to the people around me.
I've talked about my "Lent Theme Song" or "Lent Anthem" here before. The hardest verse for me to listen to is the one that says:
From the need to be understood
From the need to be accepted
From the fear of being lonely
Deliver me, Oh God
I am trying with everything inside me to sing that with conviction. To mean it. To crave the goodness of God over the things of this world. But it is a process. Lent always is. And I'm always amazed at the things God teaches me through this process. Every year is different and every lesson is perfect.
There is pain in growth.
But there is even more joy in being made whole.
Monday, March 10, 2014
My Lent Anthem
Today, The Nester wrote about choosing anthems in your life. I've already been thinking that I felt like I had a theme song for Lent this year, and her post confirmed my need for an anthem to accompany this time in my life. I tweeted last week about my song being "I Shall Not Want" by Audrey Assad. Here are the lyrics:
When you fill your body or your mind with bad stuff or even mediocre stuff, you start to crave bad or mediocre stuff. (Examples: sugar, salt, video games, tabloid magazines) In the same way, when you fill your body or mind with good things, you start to crave good things. (Examples: fresh, healthy food, God's Word, space to rest)
If your body is used to junk food, when you try to transition to healthy food, it's sometimes unpleasant. But after you've eaten healthy food for a period of time and you eat something crappy, your body will let you know that it does not appreciate crappy food. You'll start to notice that you feel better and have more energy and feel better equipped to go through the day when you have properly fueled your body with healthy food. You'll notice that the fast food or junk food you eat makes you feel lethargic or heavy or just bad.
Our minds and hearts work a little differently. When you've filled your mind and your heart with unworthy things, making the switch to good and holy things can be difficult. It takes discipline and self-control just like changing your diet. After you've been filling your mind and heart with good things, that one gossipy conversation can make you feel physically ill sometimes. But most of the time, our attitudes serve as the indicator that we haven't been watching what we "eat" as closely as we should. When we fill our minds and hearts with God and His Word, our outlook on life is filled with hope and joy despite our circumstances. We can have a terrible day or a rough week or month or year, and we can still trust that God is working all things together for our good regardless of how we feel. But if we have been neglecting God's Word and His voice, we will get negative. And snarky. And jealous. And prideful. And consumed with our selves and how we compare to everyone around us. Our outlook on life becomes one filled with distrust, sadness, and a sense that something is missing. That's because something IS missing. We push God out of our everydays and then wonder why we feel like we're missing something in our lives. Only when we focus on Him first will we see the world and ourselves as He sees. Just like the song says, when we taste His goodness, we won't want anything else.
Making God a part of your everyday life is not going to mean nothing bad or unpleasant ever happens to you. Bad things will still happen because we live in a corrupt and fallen world that NEEDS its Savior more than anything else. Life is still hard sometimes, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
From the love of my own comfort
From the fear of having nothing
From a life of worldly passions
Deliver me O God
From the need to be understood
From the need to be accepted
From the fear of being lonely
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God
And I shall not want, I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
From the fear of serving others
From the fear of death or trial
From the fear of humility
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God
From the fear of having nothing
From a life of worldly passions
Deliver me O God
From the need to be understood
From the need to be accepted
From the fear of being lonely
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God
And I shall not want, I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
From the fear of serving others
From the fear of death or trial
From the fear of humility
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God
And I shall not want, I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
when I taste Your goodness I shall not want
When you fill your body or your mind with bad stuff or even mediocre stuff, you start to crave bad or mediocre stuff. (Examples: sugar, salt, video games, tabloid magazines) In the same way, when you fill your body or mind with good things, you start to crave good things. (Examples: fresh, healthy food, God's Word, space to rest)
If your body is used to junk food, when you try to transition to healthy food, it's sometimes unpleasant. But after you've eaten healthy food for a period of time and you eat something crappy, your body will let you know that it does not appreciate crappy food. You'll start to notice that you feel better and have more energy and feel better equipped to go through the day when you have properly fueled your body with healthy food. You'll notice that the fast food or junk food you eat makes you feel lethargic or heavy or just bad.
Our minds and hearts work a little differently. When you've filled your mind and your heart with unworthy things, making the switch to good and holy things can be difficult. It takes discipline and self-control just like changing your diet. After you've been filling your mind and heart with good things, that one gossipy conversation can make you feel physically ill sometimes. But most of the time, our attitudes serve as the indicator that we haven't been watching what we "eat" as closely as we should. When we fill our minds and hearts with God and His Word, our outlook on life is filled with hope and joy despite our circumstances. We can have a terrible day or a rough week or month or year, and we can still trust that God is working all things together for our good regardless of how we feel. But if we have been neglecting God's Word and His voice, we will get negative. And snarky. And jealous. And prideful. And consumed with our selves and how we compare to everyone around us. Our outlook on life becomes one filled with distrust, sadness, and a sense that something is missing. That's because something IS missing. We push God out of our everydays and then wonder why we feel like we're missing something in our lives. Only when we focus on Him first will we see the world and ourselves as He sees. Just like the song says, when we taste His goodness, we won't want anything else.
Making God a part of your everyday life is not going to mean nothing bad or unpleasant ever happens to you. Bad things will still happen because we live in a corrupt and fallen world that NEEDS its Savior more than anything else. Life is still hard sometimes, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
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