this blog
The Freedom in
Obedience
Wow we
made it through to the last of my blogs where I use songs from my past to
highlight my faith questions and spiritual needs. I don’t know about you, but
for me that has been a long, hot and trying summer. There have been tests, many
stumbling blocks, tears and pain, but there has also been a renewal in my soul
to use prayer to guide me through these times.
I feel
like everyday this summer, there has been one horrible death after another on
the news. The deaths have seemed pointless, senseless, and unjust. Whether it
was a toddler dying in a hot bus (Richmond, VA), a man being crushed to death
on a bridge (Newport News, VA), a young mother dying in her sleep on a plane
(UK), school shooting victims (Texas), etc. etc. etc. Sometimes I wonder if
this is just a pre-rapture moment in time – because between you and me – these
moments are becoming more and more every day. Our innocence is gone. Our
earthly dominion is deeply cracked, and those cracks are decaying us at a rapid
rate. I truly believe this is all due to our lack of relationship and obedience
with God.
And of
course, there’s this disease in my body called cancer. It is back – still small
– but still it is back. I had to give myself a time out last weekend to allow
myself a safe intimate space to break down and cry. It took all the way until
7:00 p.m. on Sunday for me to let it out and scream and cry. You know who was
waiting for that moment – Jesus! I know he was waiting for me to LET IT GO –
because when I did, he stepped right in. He calmed me, he reassured me, he
wiped my tears and gave me PEACE. Then he started giving me little
affirmations. I leaned in, I listened to
his word and he started working.
Once I
let go of my “me thought” and surrendered all of this to God, I began to once
again remember that our loudest call is to OBEY. Sometimes we don’t want to
obey God when we are not happy about the situation that God has called us into.
But in these places we are reminded of Paul’s words “ To live is Christ, to die
is gain”. Maybe these words get lost in translation or through the chaos that
is our daily lives. These words simply mean as long as I have breath, I have
the opportunity to do work for God and to try my best to guide souls to him and
that at death, I gain eternal life. That’s it! That’s our call – obey him where
we are, do his work for him, guide his lost sheep and be rewarded in Heaven.
Once this
peaceful reminder hit me – well I had no choice but to let go of my fear and
doubt. Because it is a reminder that we all have breath today, because Jesus
isn’t done with us. When Jesus is ready to let you rest in your eternal
salvation, well that will be your last day on this earth. Until then – you must
live to the fullest in total obedience and find Joy even in the pain and chaos.
We always
talk about “free will” and how that is the gift we received from God. How we
have the choice to believe or not believe. That free will also is given to us
as to whether or not we will obey his word. It is the gift within the gift. For
as we believe, truly believe, we are compelled to want to please God. That
pleasing comes from our obedience. I know some of you are waking up to hurt,
confusion and a sense of loss. You are questioning whether your prayers and
devotion to God mean anything to him. I have been there. I walked a very long
season in what I called “What’s Up God”. I lost both of my parents, my marriage
and was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in just a short span of time. I was
truly lost.
But if I
had not walked through that long dark valley, I would not have God. I found him
to be just and faithful. I found him to be gracious and loving. I found him to
be my rock and my provider. He has never let me down. He has pulled me out of
the valley and given me many mountain top moments. Yes, I am going to get
treatment again, but that’s just part of life. I recall, and hold dear to my
heart, that in the book of Job – God had to give permission to Satan to “touch”
Job. God didn’t give this permission because he wanted to hurt Job – but he
believed that Job could endure and that through the endurance his relationship
with God would be even better.
That’s my hope. That’s my plan. That’s why I choose to Obey
HIM today and every day.
The song for this week, once again comes from God. I was
trying to figure out a song that ties together love and obedience, and this
song title floated in my head. I dismissed it; I could not remember the words
minus the main chorus. Then this morning the song played on the radio and I
knew! So this is definitely an early birthday present to me from God – because
I LOVED this artist growing up. So much so, that my daughter has “threatened”
to play “Purple Rain” at my funeral (y’all are forewarned). I feel Prince is
truly misunderstood by many. He was a very active and very devout Jehovah’s
Witness and although I disagree with many of their teachings, I do recognize it
as a form of Christianity. Prince had an entire album written and recorded based
on his beliefs “Rainbow Children” – which isn’t all about God. He has a lot of
songs about faith and God. One even titled “God”. Song’s like “The Rainbow
Children”, “The Work”, “The Cross” – many songs.
This song this week is probably one of his more known hits
and surprisingly about faith. It was part of the movie “Purple Rain” and the
video directors and movie producers took it out of context and converted it
into a love type song. But it isn’t. It was actually written around the same
time as “God” (which did not make the cut for the movie or soundtrack).
Song: I Would Die for You
- from 1984 – Songwriter Prince
I’m not a woman
I’m not a man
I am something that you’ll never understand
I’ll never beat you
I’ll never lie
And if you’re evil I’ll forgive you by and by, ‘cause
You, I would die for you, yeah
Darling, if you want me too
You, I would die for you
I’m not your lover
I’m not your friend
I am something that you’ll never comprehend
No need to worry
No need to cry
I’m your messiah and you’re the reason why, ‘cause
You, I would die for you, yeah
Darling, If you want me too
I would die for you
You’re just a sinner, I am told
Be your fire when you’re cold
Make you happy when you’re sad
Make you good when you are bad
I’m not a human
I’m a dove
I’m your conscious
I am love
All I really need is to know that you believe
Yeah, I would die for you you, yeah
Repeat
I am not posting a link this week to the video of the song
for a couple of reasons, one there is no official video to the song, there is footage
of the song via the Movie and since the movie was Rated R – and I don’t know
the age of audience, I just feel safer not posting it. The second is that I really want you to soak
in the message of our savior, Jesus Christ, dying for us – I want to end my
music and message series with that – after all – that is the foundation of our
faith.
I hope you enjoyed this series. I will take a week or two
off (to deal with medical stuff) and then I will return in September with a new
series “Movies and Faith”. Until then, enjoy the remaining weeks of summer and
keep your heart and mind rested in Christ.
Love all!
