This is Our God

This is Our God by Chris Tomlin

"A refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm,
This is our God
He will wipe away your tears and return your wasted years
This is our God
Oh...this is our God
A father to the orphan, a healer to the broken,
This is our God
And he brings peace to our madness and comfort in our sadness
This is our God
Oh...this is our God
This is the one we have waited for
Oh...this is our God
A fountain for the thirsty, a lover for the lonely
This is our God
He brings glory to the humble and crowns for the faithful
This is our God

Jesus, Lord and Savior
You are The One
You
You are the One we have waited for
You
This is Our God"

I love this song. I love when a song speaks directly to my heart. I love how music draws me into His presence and creates what becomes daily worship. There are times that I feel that I am hearing the words of these songs for the very first time. There are times I feel they were written just for me. They probably were in some way.

See, His design, His plans on our lives are so complex, they are so intricate. I believe that He puts words in our hearts, words to sing, to write, read or to say that have a destination ahead to the heart of the ones in need. I hear what I need to hear, when I need to hear it, because He put those very words in the heart of another. It is another way that we are connected through God's love for us. Chris Tomlin gave me something from his heart today, something written long ago. He wrote them for his own reasons, but God in heaven knew that I would need to hear those words on June 8, 2010. I believe that.

He speaks to me in so many ways, in music, in nature and in the still, quiet of the morning, in voices raised to Him in song. When His love is inside of us, it MUST be expressed. The artist paints, the musician sings, the writer writes. The Creator speaks to His creation. His love is passed around because it is simply too big for our simple hearts to contain.

His glory is expressed in the beauty of the world around us too. Nature declares, no, it screams His glory. I have to remember that, I have to be aware of His presence in every moment. His majesty, His design of the world around me, His design on my life. He is simply, ultimately and supremely, The Architect.

So what happened this week? Well, nothing earth shattering, I was just praying and worrying at the same time. Those two things don't go together too well, do they? The absurdity of all of it struck me. I was pre-occupied with two of my phobias, flying and bad storms. I was praying and continuing to watch the radar and fret. I was getting all wound up inside and a million scenarios were going through my mind of Plan A, Plan B and Plan C to get myself to Boston that day. Then it hit me, I could see what I was doing. I could see the disrespect I was showing Him, the lack of real faith, in asking for help but not giving it over to Him.

Tears filled my eyes. I was so ashamed of myself. I did not mean to act as if I did not believe, yet my actions expressed just that. In one of the small moments of my life, I failed. This was not a major leap of faith moment like deciding to go on a mission trip, this was a small one, the ones that make up my life. So in this small moment, I failed to trust that this second mattered to Him. But aren't these little days of worry the ones that take the greatest toll on us? On our health, our peace and our happiness? Aren't these the ones we need to surrender? All my moments matter to Him. Not because of anything in special in me, but because all that is beautiful, loving in Him. Because of Who He is and how He loves us.

So I reached for His hand that day. I walked beside Him. I let go of my fear and gave control of what I saw as a huge problem that day, hail, high winds, lightning mixed in with a small airplane and I put it all down at His feet. My problem went away, the big storm system on the radar dissipated and the weather did not create a problem for me that day. In fact, my trip was stress-free and without incident. But even if the storm had raged for hours, my response would have been the same. I would know that He planned for that day to rage and blow. Sometimes He calms the wind and sometimes He just calms my heart.

This is Our God...