I was listening to a song by the group Big Daddy Weave and heard a stanza that captured my heart: “If I told you my story, you would hear victory. If I told you my story, you would hear Life. Ohh-ohh, to tell you my story is to tell of Him.”
My inner response was — wow! Those 31 words summarize pages and pages of interactive conversation and testimony between the “I” of his verse and Papa God. As I pondered the lyricist’s verse, the natural question arose: what would people hear from the song of my life? Or from yours? A funeral dirge? A nursery rhyme of phrases that make no sense except in their own context? A country-style lament regarding being “done wrong” and seeing no justice in the world?
Or would they be able to hear Jesus say “Take courage; I have overcome the world”? (John 16:33)
MIXED MELODY OF MESSAGES
I would like to be able to say that the latter is always true in my life. Unfortunately, Peter and I have much in common and that is not the case. Depending on which verse of life people had tuned in to, I have no doubt that my “song” would have sent a mixed melody of messages that displayed confusion, misunderstanding, doubt or unbelief. As many different circumstances are thrown before us, I think that we, like Elijah, need to turn our eyes towards seeing the smallest cloud that will lead to that future rain of divine promise or destiny, manifest.
And while we wrestle with that, the song of our lives is always being sung — through hours and days and weeks of time.
MODIFY OUR SONG
What can modify the tune to grow peppy, victorious, uplifting?
- God’s goodness and our choice to anchor ourselves to it.
- Our perspective.
- Our personal belief and understanding as to “how big” God is.
We are uplifted and strengthened when we choose to walk by faith through those puzzling and troubling times, holding His hand, seeking His counsel and insight. By faith and with hope we must embrace Jesus’ statement that He is in the process of kingdom redemption regarding every circumstance and challenge we face. He is with us. We, in partnership with Him, are designed to be “destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5) Yes, together.
It’s part of our spiritual DNA…yet it’s so easy to have our perspective focus on an incorrect priority, even as we pursue the right goal.
ALIGNED PERSPECTIVE
In Luke 9:55, Jesus corrected His disciples for desiring to call down fire on a Samaritan village which did not receive them with hospitality during a journey to Jerusalem. He stated, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
What was the disciples’ inner thinking, their expectation? Of course, they had wanted Jesus to be embraced. And when the townspeople did not react as anticipated, the disciples’ response was surprise, anger and frustration. The path of their thinking concentrated on the Samaritans’ action of man’s rejection, not Jesus’ heavenly mission of pursuit and redemption. Their perspective had not yet become aligned with His.
So it is logical to ask — is ours? When we face a similar situation of expectation not matching reality, do we focus on the ever-pounding knowledge of the world towards us, or do we seek and choose to grasp the revealed knowledge of God towards us?
OUR STORY TELLS OF HIM
We have all endured various abuses, frustrations, and un-righted wrongs. But here is a key we can pick up and boldly carry, one that interlocks neatly into the shield of faith: with great assurance, we can boldly proclaim that in the midst of disappointment and frustration, He is nevertheless bringing and weaving together His purpose and our divine identity as we travel together through the emotional storms that buffet our souls. We need not entertain the speculation that He has faltered or turned aside for a bit to let us walk the path before us, alone.
Even as Jesus challenged “what kind of spirit” the disciples were demonstrating in that instance, they, themselves really did not understand what Spirit Jesus was of. We have a greater benefit for He has revealed and shared that Spirit with us.
If I told you my story, you would hear Life…to tell of my story is to tell of Him.
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