The Sea
You made the light that burns at the skies collidewith the waves that are crashing in my life.
And as I walk on the water of your grace,
my sea of sin swirls and rises in my disgrace.
But the depth of your ocean is the depth of your love
no matter the storm, you are always enough.
So as the rain drives around, I will stretch my arms wide
I'm in your Sea of compassion; you're the God who provides.
Hey all! I am currently sitting on a hotel bed in Barcelona, Spain and it is past 1 a.m. in the morning. Since it is only 7 back home, I want to say have a wonderful rest of your Fourth of July night! The picture above was taken from the beach in Barcelona, and while the picture gives everyone an update as to what I am up to, it also ties nicely into my blog topic for today, and that is the Sea of Compassion! I have been thinking a lot about this concept, and last night I wrote out some lyrics to a song that I am going to finish sometime in the near future, but I posted the lyrics that I do have underneath the picture!
SO everyday, I try to read a quick devotional by Oswald Chambers in his book "My Utmost for His Highest." The material in these devotionals is really great stuff, and I would encourage anyone and everyone to check it out. You can even read the devotional online for the technologically advanced. Anyways, the devotional for July 4th was really good and I wanted to take the chance to post some of what it said on here. If you want to read the whole thing, once again, you can find it online.
"My Utmost for His Highest" - Oswald Chambers
July 4th, 2011
'One of God's Great "Don'ts"'
"Do not fret - it only causes harm" (Psalm 37:8)
It is easy to say, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people.
Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external conditions at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.
Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way.
Set all of your opinions and speculations aside and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All of our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.
I think that these concepts that Ozzie (Oswald Chambers) discusses are right on. When I think of this, my mind constantly returns to three main points: obedience, trust, and compassion.
The first thing that we must realize is the absolute necessity of being obedient to God. If we are obedient to God's will in our lives, we should not have to worry. Which leads to the second point and that is trust. We can be as obedient as we want, but unless we trust in our hearts with everything that we are that our obedience will result in plans that prosper and do not harm us, then we are missing the whole picture. And finally, I think of compassion, or for the sake of this blog, "the sea of compassion." We realize that even though we crave to be obedient to God, and even though we trust and know that His plan is the right one, we are unable to manage to follow through with our obedience and our trust. That is where God's compassion comes into the picture. There are so many times where we simply fall short of God's glory. In those times, it is his compassion that brings us back.
Those are just some quick thoughts for you on this wonderful Fourth of July. Take the chance today to praise God for the countless blessings that He has put into your life. If you actually stop and think about it, I guarantee you will realize more and more how He has provided and shown up, even in the smallest of matters. Thanks for reading and if you need me, I'll be relaxing on the beach, with my arms open wide, ready to set sail on God's Sea of Compassion!
Hasta Luego Amigos,
Singing off,
JD
So, I am a devoted reader of your blog so, I figured it was about time I commented. My thoughts as I read:
ReplyDeleteOh, my gosh, I really enjoy reading your blogs.
lol. Oh my gosh, My Utmost for His highest! That's it. I knew you were reading that, and I knew there was this monster of a great book that I wanted to read and had heard about from eric and mark driscoll but it didn't dawn on me that it was the same book that you were reading. Awesome. I hope to read that someday.
JUST had a sermon about this two weeks ago. Something my pastor is says when he worries, God kinda chuckles and says, "You worry because you think you're in control."
and another thing he said a couple years ago in a similar sermon was worry/anxiety is the opposite of faith, i.e. trusting in the Lord.
Your lyrics reminded me of something i was singing in my head, just twisting and going with the tune of a hillsong song, it was in the letter i meant to send you,
Higher than the mountains that i face,
greater than the weight of my disgrace...
lol, Hasta luego mi amigo.
Jake! That's just... spooky, the topic you wrote about, because it was actually the topic of our devotionals the morning you wrote that post. And, Kelsey and I were talking about it earlier too! But I concur 110% with everything you said! (And what Oswald said too). My director Steve also referred us to Philippians 4:4-7 as well and he said that we are told to rejoice! in the Lord and the opposite of rejoicing is also worrying, so yeah, like you/Oswald said, when we worry, we are sinning.And unhappy.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I read your lyrics, I got so excited because I didn't know you wrote them, and I looked them up on google right away, and then.. when nothing popped up, I realized that you wrote them! They're so good!!!!!
Anyway. I hope you're having a great time in Europe!! Barcelona Spain sounds... beautiful. Can't wait to hear all about your trip!