Do you ever stop and think about what it means to be alive? That it's a miracle all by itself. Maybe that's a little nostalgic, but with the nostalgia comes perspective, and we could all use more of that.
Recently I was invited to a concert by some friends. However, the concert was on a Tuesday night. In a different city. Of course I wasn't going. I'd have to work 13 hours the next day, and I'd be exhausted from the 13 I just worked. I shrugged the invite off, but couldn't move past it over the next week. So I did the only logical thing....I went.
"Back then I'd be lying in bed or walking down a hallway at college, and the realization I was alive would startle me, as though it had come up from behind and slammed two books together. We get robbed of the glory of life because we aren't capable of remembering how we got here."-Unknown
How quickly we forget the Psalmist David's words...
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139 13-16 ESV
That's how we got here. You and me. With a purpose. We have always been seen by the only eyes that truly matter. There has never been a day when we haven't been known. "O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar." Psalm 139 1-2 ESV. He knows us, when we're on our knees proclaiming our love for him. Or when we're running from him as fast and far as we can.
There I was, at the concert. In a packed arena. On the front row of seats looking out at a mob of young people in the pit just in front of me. The guys high fiving and the girls slowly shifting their dresses back and forth.Waiting with great foretaste for the sounds of the newest indie rock sensation of sorts. The first guitar was amplified, and an outcry of monumental triumph quickly followed.
I could only think, what if people worshiped Jesus that way. Not just at a Hillsong or Jesus Culture concert. That's vastly limiting the meaning of worship. I'm talking about a life of worship. Living life with that kind of anticipation of the Lord. I found myself completely unable to enjoy the moment. But as the band kept playing I was distracted by how talented they were. Every single one of them was playing multiple instruments. Even two instruments at a time. Five or Six different types of drums. Guitars. Keyboards. Gongs. Tambourines. The madness was magnificent.
"When you are born you wake slowly to everything. Your brain doesn't stop growing until you turn twenty-six, God is slowly turning the lights on, and you're groggy and pointing to things saying circle and blue and car and then sex and job and health care. The experience is so slow you could easily come to believe life isn't that big of a deal, that life isn't staggering. What I'm saying is I think life is staggering and we're just used to it."- Donald Miller
In that moment life became staggering again. I was suddenly aware of how incredibly talented each member of this band was, and how the noise they were making, was what we call music. God had given each of them the ability and skill set to make 15,000 people stand to their feet and scream at the top of their lungs. That's staggering. The bible tells us that God is in everything. I was marveled by God in that moment. Even if it wasn't a Phillips Craig & Dean concert.
I played baseball in undergrad and before every practice and game we would pray as a team. There was one particular guy on the team whom everyone always gave a hard time after he prayed. His prayers took forever. He would say how thankful he was for the day. The trees. The birds. Baseball. His teammates. The weather. It always made us laugh. Maybe it was overboard. But when I think about it....life must have been so incredible to him that he just couldn't overlook all these little things. He was alive and it wasn't because of a temporary happiness. The joy that he knew, was staggering.
Because that's what God does, he loves to make us marvel at his glory, if we only stop to recognize the ways that he is trying to tell us how much he loves us. When it's not just another Oklahoma sunset in our eyes. When we stand in the rain in our favorite clothes. When we have the opportunity to listen to someones story. And the chance to tell them ours. When everything falls apart and you watch God put it back together piece by piece by piece. When we give of ourselves, and unexpectedly receive. When we end up at an unexpected concert with unexpected company.
There's no explanation other than he loves us. Since before we were born. And right where we are at today. Life is staggering, don't miss it.
Recently I was invited to a concert by some friends. However, the concert was on a Tuesday night. In a different city. Of course I wasn't going. I'd have to work 13 hours the next day, and I'd be exhausted from the 13 I just worked. I shrugged the invite off, but couldn't move past it over the next week. So I did the only logical thing....I went.
"Back then I'd be lying in bed or walking down a hallway at college, and the realization I was alive would startle me, as though it had come up from behind and slammed two books together. We get robbed of the glory of life because we aren't capable of remembering how we got here."-Unknown
How quickly we forget the Psalmist David's words...
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139 13-16 ESV
That's how we got here. You and me. With a purpose. We have always been seen by the only eyes that truly matter. There has never been a day when we haven't been known. "O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar." Psalm 139 1-2 ESV. He knows us, when we're on our knees proclaiming our love for him. Or when we're running from him as fast and far as we can.
There I was, at the concert. In a packed arena. On the front row of seats looking out at a mob of young people in the pit just in front of me. The guys high fiving and the girls slowly shifting their dresses back and forth.Waiting with great foretaste for the sounds of the newest indie rock sensation of sorts. The first guitar was amplified, and an outcry of monumental triumph quickly followed.
I could only think, what if people worshiped Jesus that way. Not just at a Hillsong or Jesus Culture concert. That's vastly limiting the meaning of worship. I'm talking about a life of worship. Living life with that kind of anticipation of the Lord. I found myself completely unable to enjoy the moment. But as the band kept playing I was distracted by how talented they were. Every single one of them was playing multiple instruments. Even two instruments at a time. Five or Six different types of drums. Guitars. Keyboards. Gongs. Tambourines. The madness was magnificent.
"When you are born you wake slowly to everything. Your brain doesn't stop growing until you turn twenty-six, God is slowly turning the lights on, and you're groggy and pointing to things saying circle and blue and car and then sex and job and health care. The experience is so slow you could easily come to believe life isn't that big of a deal, that life isn't staggering. What I'm saying is I think life is staggering and we're just used to it."- Donald Miller
In that moment life became staggering again. I was suddenly aware of how incredibly talented each member of this band was, and how the noise they were making, was what we call music. God had given each of them the ability and skill set to make 15,000 people stand to their feet and scream at the top of their lungs. That's staggering. The bible tells us that God is in everything. I was marveled by God in that moment. Even if it wasn't a Phillips Craig & Dean concert.
I played baseball in undergrad and before every practice and game we would pray as a team. There was one particular guy on the team whom everyone always gave a hard time after he prayed. His prayers took forever. He would say how thankful he was for the day. The trees. The birds. Baseball. His teammates. The weather. It always made us laugh. Maybe it was overboard. But when I think about it....life must have been so incredible to him that he just couldn't overlook all these little things. He was alive and it wasn't because of a temporary happiness. The joy that he knew, was staggering.
Because that's what God does, he loves to make us marvel at his glory, if we only stop to recognize the ways that he is trying to tell us how much he loves us. When it's not just another Oklahoma sunset in our eyes. When we stand in the rain in our favorite clothes. When we have the opportunity to listen to someones story. And the chance to tell them ours. When everything falls apart and you watch God put it back together piece by piece by piece. When we give of ourselves, and unexpectedly receive. When we end up at an unexpected concert with unexpected company.
There's no explanation other than he loves us. Since before we were born. And right where we are at today. Life is staggering, don't miss it.
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones...welcome to the new age.
Give it a listen. It's the jam.
More to come.
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