This might hurt a bit..

“And we all…are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2. Cor. 3.19)

I am reminded of a praise song we often sang at devotionals growing up, one that I never much cared for.  I didn’t necessarily despise it as a song, but something about its message seemed a bit off to me, though I could never put my finger on exactly what it was.  I just knew that it irritated me to see my fellow Aggies for Christ singing this song on the steps of the Academic building on campus, eyes closed, hands held upward… but then again, I was a foolish, angry young man with only a few good ideas, a lot of heart, and a spiritual chip on my shoulder…nevertheless, something still seemed 'off' to me. The chorus of the song went as  follows:

My heart is hard / My soul so weak / The ways of evil / Cut so deep / I need You, Lord / To come inside / And gently break / My heart. (from the praise song “Break My Heart”)

I’m now much older, about to turn 37 at the end of this week.  I am somewhat wiser, less prideful, more humble than I was 15 years ago.  I have much less of a chip on my shoulder, though I still haven't gotten rid of it completely.  And guess what?  That song still bothers me to this day.  At least now I know why.

Everybody Hurts, Part 3: Psalm 13

Psalm 13 offers us an incredible yet succinct way to present our suffering before God.  In just 6 verses this Psalm provides us a healthy template through which we can cry out before the Lord with boldness, with honesty, with soul, and with reverence. 

There appears to be three parts to this Psalm, thus three steps in “crying out” to God: 1) The Cry; 2) The Plea; 3) The Praise. 

First Movement: Crying Out To God

¹ How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
   How long will you hide your face from me?
²How long must I take counsel in my soul
   and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Cease Striving! Prt. 2: Trying Too Hard

Despite my best efforts, I have always fallen far short of the ‘standard of excellence’ that somehow got lodged into my brain long ago…and as I tried so incredibly hard to be good, tried so incredibly hard to be successful, I have often been anything but.  The frustration and depression from failing to reach these unobtainable goals led me (while serving as a vocational minister) to go in a different direction and try and obtain a lasting peace, a lasting happiness….in Christ, ‘of course.’  Needless to say, I have tried so incredibly hard to be happy, to be peaceful, to be easy going, that of course I have failed at it miserably, time and time again…

  

Ironically, my 'best efforts' were always directed at winning my own 'self acceptance': I knew God loved and accepted me, yet I was not nearly as accepting and forgiving of "I" as God was(!)  How well-intentioned yet incredibly self-absorbed! And yet, even though I recognize my over-striving, even though I work hard to eliminate it, I only ‘strive to hard’ to eliminate ‘striving to hard’!  As Charles Brown would say at this point, “GOOD GRIEF”, man!  And better yet, not only do I continue to get caught in this battle of strife, I pray unceasingly that God will help and bless me in my strivings(!)

Cease Striving! Prt. 1

I was formally introduced to the call of Psalms 42.6 in a dusty classroom at the back of a tiny church, stuck in a “Preaching School”-style class on Old Testament Wisdom Literature (and Psalms) some 12 years ago.  The instructor was old, wise, and gentle (unlike some of his harsher contemporaries.)  He taught from the New American Standard version, which I personally have never preferred for its ‘choppy’ reading, despite its reputation for literal accuracy in translation.

I had two bibles out and open, an NIV and a NASB.  As we came to Psalm 46, my ears perked up because I recognized verse 10 to contain the words of a devotional song I had grown up singing...