As I've said, when it comes to dealing with my rheumatoid arthritis, there's a lot of things that help. Then there's the big guns: my faith and music. Sometimes you need a combination of the two. This is why all of the videos featured in this third installment of this series are by Christian artists. You know, there's been so many horrible things happening lately. It seems like there's not a day that goes by where you don't hear about some new tragedy. I read an article the other day about how Christians should stay silent when terrible things like the senseless killings of the Dallas police officers happen. This makes absolutely no sense to me. If anything, it's times like this where Christians need to be more vocal.
Why? Because in times like this, people need hope. They need to look away from the tragedy; they need to look above. As a Christian, I believe in Jesus. The one true God. The source from which all good things come. There may be people who will be offended by my saying that, but that doesn't make it any less true. I often water down my faith when I talk about it on here because I know it's off putting to some. Well, no more of that. Not when the post in question is all about it. If you don't believe, that's between you and God. This post, however, is more about God in general. About me and God. About my faith and my beliefs and so today? Today, they will not be watered down.
As a nation, we have turned our backs on God. People try to force Him out of everything, but the second something horrible happens ask where He is. They ask why would a supposedly loving God allow these things to happen. As if He wants these things to happen. He doesn't. This is not how it was supposed to be. But He loved us enough to give us the gift of free will. He loves each and every one of us, so much so that He wanted to give us a choice. And you know what? We make a lot of bad choices. Bad things happen because people choose to do bad things.
That answer will be unsatisfactory to a lot of people, but it's the truth. God will never force Himself on us. Does that mean that He's not still there? Absolutely not. He's always there and when bad
things happens, it is God who weeps the most. Yes, He's there and he's waiting. Waiting for us with arms wide open. Waiting for us to realize how much we need Him, how much the world needs Him. So many people have been asking what we have to do to make things better and miss the glaring reality that we need help. We need God. We need a revival. We need to return to Jesus. As a nation, we've tried living without Him and guess what. It's not working. Don't believe me? Turn on the news. In turning our back on God, we have created quite the playground for the enemy. We've created a breeding ground for evil. Don't believe me? Again I say to watch the news. Horrible things are happening. Innocent people are losing their lives. People are suffering. It's time for everyone to realize that our ways of trying to solve all of our problems aren't working. If anything, we create more problems trying to solve the initial problems. It's time for people to understand that the only real solution is Jesus. He is the answer.
So, in keeping with that theme, I have chosen songs that I think will help. Let's get started.
1. "Never Alone" by BarlowGirl. We were never promised a life without suffering. In fact, God was very clear that there would be suffering. The promise wasn't a life without trouble; the promise was that God would always be there. People say, incorrectly, that God never gives us more than we can handle and that's not true. Sometimes we get more than we can handle. Someone we love gets shot while trying to do their jobs. Our spouse loses their job and thus, our main source of income. We diagnosed with some kind of debilitating illness. People are given more than they can handle all the time. The promise was that we would never be alone. The promise was that we might not be strong enough - in fact, we're definitely not strong enough - but God is. We can't carry the burden, but God can and He will. We can't always feel Him, but He's always there. We're never alone. Never.
Why? Because in times like this, people need hope. They need to look away from the tragedy; they need to look above. As a Christian, I believe in Jesus. The one true God. The source from which all good things come. There may be people who will be offended by my saying that, but that doesn't make it any less true. I often water down my faith when I talk about it on here because I know it's off putting to some. Well, no more of that. Not when the post in question is all about it. If you don't believe, that's between you and God. This post, however, is more about God in general. About me and God. About my faith and my beliefs and so today? Today, they will not be watered down.
As a nation, we have turned our backs on God. People try to force Him out of everything, but the second something horrible happens ask where He is. They ask why would a supposedly loving God allow these things to happen. As if He wants these things to happen. He doesn't. This is not how it was supposed to be. But He loved us enough to give us the gift of free will. He loves each and every one of us, so much so that He wanted to give us a choice. And you know what? We make a lot of bad choices. Bad things happen because people choose to do bad things.
That answer will be unsatisfactory to a lot of people, but it's the truth. God will never force Himself on us. Does that mean that He's not still there? Absolutely not. He's always there and when bad
things happens, it is God who weeps the most. Yes, He's there and he's waiting. Waiting for us with arms wide open. Waiting for us to realize how much we need Him, how much the world needs Him. So many people have been asking what we have to do to make things better and miss the glaring reality that we need help. We need God. We need a revival. We need to return to Jesus. As a nation, we've tried living without Him and guess what. It's not working. Don't believe me? Turn on the news. In turning our back on God, we have created quite the playground for the enemy. We've created a breeding ground for evil. Don't believe me? Again I say to watch the news. Horrible things are happening. Innocent people are losing their lives. People are suffering. It's time for everyone to realize that our ways of trying to solve all of our problems aren't working. If anything, we create more problems trying to solve the initial problems. It's time for people to understand that the only real solution is Jesus. He is the answer.
So, in keeping with that theme, I have chosen songs that I think will help. Let's get started.
1. "Never Alone" by BarlowGirl. We were never promised a life without suffering. In fact, God was very clear that there would be suffering. The promise wasn't a life without trouble; the promise was that God would always be there. People say, incorrectly, that God never gives us more than we can handle and that's not true. Sometimes we get more than we can handle. Someone we love gets shot while trying to do their jobs. Our spouse loses their job and thus, our main source of income. We diagnosed with some kind of debilitating illness. People are given more than they can handle all the time. The promise was that we would never be alone. The promise was that we might not be strong enough - in fact, we're definitely not strong enough - but God is. We can't carry the burden, but God can and He will. We can't always feel Him, but He's always there. We're never alone. Never.
*BarlowGirl retired in 2012
2. "Held" by Natalie Grant. This has always been one of my favorite Natalie Grant songs. Sometimes it's hard to understand what's going on. Be it with our health or in the world at large. The good news is that we don't have to know why. God doesn't cause bad things to happen, but if He allows it, He has his reasons. We might never understand those reasons, at least not this side of heaven, but that's okay. We don't have to understand why. We just have to trust God. Trust that He's still God, no matter what happens. Trust that He is on His throne and He is still in control. Trust that He's holding onto us and will never let go. No matter what.
3. "Thy Will" by Hillary Scott & the Scott Family. One of the hardest prayers we can pray and the most important one to pray is for God's will to be done. It's hard because God's will might not be what we wanted. It's hard because when we hurt, we just want to feel better. When we're confused, we want to understand. But as Hillary sings, "Sometimes I gotta stop/ Remember that You're God/ And I am not". We're not the ones in control; God is. Our ways may not be His, but His are better. Believe that. Even when it hurts. His will is always better than our wants.
4. "Cry Out to Jesus" by Third Day. There's so many who kind of roll their eyes at the mention of prayer. They talk about how prayer doesn't do anything and generally mock those who waste time praying. These people fail to understand a few key things. First, God is not some kind a magic genie who sits around waiting to give us whatever we desire. Remember the lesson from the last song: God is God and we're not. Second, prayer is less about changing circumstances and more about changing hearts. It's about communicating with our Father who loves us. Prayers don't have to be fancy, you don't need special words to talk to God you just talk. Don't tell me that prayer doesn't change things; it does. Just not the way many think it should. I can promise you that if we all cried out of Jesus on a regular basis - not just when things are hard - we'd all be better off. Things would be so much better.
5. "Overcomer" by Mandisa. Because who says you can't be inspired and dance at the same time? I think one of the reasons God lets bad things happen to us is because that's what it takes to get our attention. Another reason being that it's during the bad times that we grow. John 16:33 tells us that "...Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." This, my friends, is fantastic news. Whatever is going on in our lives, God's got it under control. He's got this and with His help, so do we. Because of Him, we are overcomers.
6. "Courageous" by Casting Crowns. Keeping up with the theme, we weren't meant to be timid. We were meant to be courageous. There's so many people out there like me who water down their faith because we're scared of what will happen if we don't. We worry about being called a hater or a bigot or whatever insult they want to throw at us. The problem with this is that the stakes are too high for us not to speak the truth when it needs to be spoken. We all have our own battles and then there's the bigger battles taking place all over the country. Now, more than ever, we need to abandon our fear for our faith. We need to pick up our swords, so to speak, and fight back against the enemy that's trying to destroy us.
7. "God's Not Dead" by Newsboys. I saved what I feel is probably the most important video for last. If there is one message that the world needs to hear it's that God's not dead. He lives. I know that He lives because I know Him. I really like what they did with the video; it sums it all up beautifully. God is not dead. My God is not dead. No matter what the world tells you. He is alive. People denying that truth does not make it any less true. God's not dead and because He's not dead, we have hope. Believe that.
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