http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pskjyxykBiE
“But everything inside you knows there’s/More than what you’ve heard/There’s so much more than empty conversations/Filled with empty words”
I really don’t like summer/winter break. I love seeing my friends and family, but it always feels like this line of the song. The people here at home don’t get to see/experience how I’ve changed, and I don’t get to see how they’ve changed. And I won’t get to see how they’ve changed because I’ll be back at school soon anyways. Every break it’s the same “how’s college? You like it there?” I don’t blame anyone, there’s really nothing else to say. For me, breaks are like life on pause. I hate it because it always feels like my everything becomes numb from lack of exposure to deep relationships. I know there’s more, I just struggle to find it when I’m not moving anywhere.
I just got back from a missions trip to Taiwan. It’s amazing what can happen in a few weeks. “On fire” is a good two words to describe my trip. That’s one of my favorite things about God, when you serve others on His behalf, it doesn’t drain you spiritually. In fact, using your efforts and energies to serve others draws you and (hopefully) them closer to God. Sure I spent about a month lugging sound equipment all over (the northern part of) Taiwan, but all that serving others filled me with a spirit of love for other people and for God.
It’s that counter-intuitiveness that I love about God. And I think that’s why the song repeatedly uses the word “mysteries”. Part of the beauty of everything God does, I think, is that we don’t always understand it. Watching a sunset is awesome. Watching a sunset is less cool if you’re thinking about how we’re just a giant chunk of dirt spiraling a burning chunk of gas that emits light of various wavelengths and only appears red because the red light wavelengths are longer than the blue and therefore can travel better to our eyes when looking along the horizon.
“Everything inside me looks like/Everything I hate/You are the hope I have for change/You are the only chance I’ll take”
This single-minded attitude of desiring God to change you from the inside out is what brings people to a place of being on fire for God. And even though declaring that God is “the only chance I’ll take” is lyrically cool sounding and probably not theologically the best way of putting, it captures the idea of trusting in God alone. Trusting in this world can’t and won’t always help or even be able to change you for the better. Trusting in this world and not God is a great way to put out Godly fires.
