This week's blog is a little different from my regular posts. I have been listening to Hillsong United's song Highlands (Song of Ascent), and it grabs me every single time. It is one of my personal favourites at the moment; it is on repeat a lot. There a few lines in it that get me every time. Do you have worship songs that you listen to that just grab you? That touch something deep within you? Comment below if you do, I am always looking for new options.
My favourite lines are
No less God within the shadows
No less faithful when the night leads me astray
I love the picture that it paints, that even when the shadows overwhelm us, even when life gets hard as it does, He is no less God. When we wander off, God is no less faithful to us, his character doesn't change. When the shadows and the night become too much, and we question vent and blame, God doesn't change. His grace covers us endlessly.
The lines before these two are,
So I will praise You on the mountain
And I will praise You when the mountain's in my way
You're the summit where my feet are
I don't know about you, but I find it relatively easy to praise God on the mountain top when my feet are on the summit. When I am looking out over the incredible view, everything is sailing along nicely; there are no mountains in my way, the sun is shining; it is easy to be thankful. It is easy to look out and acknowledge God for all he has done.
I am not so great at acknowledging God when the mountain is suddenly in my way. When the shadows have overwhelmed me, and I feel like I am drowning in the darkness. Then I don't do so well with acknowledging God. Questioning him, complaining at him, and trying to control everything, that I have got a handle on. My first tendency is panic and then getting somewhat grumpy with the people around me because I am stressed out.
I wonder how much difference it would make in my life if I tried praising God when the mountain was in my way every time. I wonder if I chose to believe those words that he is no less God when it isn't all sunshine and lollipops how much difference it would make to my peace of mind. I do generally get around to those things, but they aren't my default responses and they need to be.
It's funny how you can be singing a song and then suddenly a lyric you have sung 1000 times over suddenly stands out. This song was that song for me. It challenged me, made delve deeper, and look into the character of God. I questioned myself when I was singing the lyrics, was I being honest? Did I mean what I was singing? Did I believe it? And if I did believe it was I putting action to that? I would love to hear what songs make you think, what songs capture your imagination or your spirit.