Finally Back for Easter

Well, I really took a lot of time off since my last post. I've probably lost all the readers I had by now - oh well, that's not that important to me (as this blog started as a private one). This fatherhood stuff is proving to be much more difficult that I imagined it would be. It's hard to find time to do anything, let alone time to sit down for 30-60 minutes for a blog post. But, this weekend went pretty well, and I'm going to try and carve out some time for a little post.

This may not come as a surprise, but I think I'm going to choose to elaborate on some song lyrics again, which is probably my favorite thing to do on here. I've been plodding through J.C. Ryle's "Old Paths" for the last few months, and it's a really good book, but it's one that's hard to write about without making very lengthy posts. So...let's get to the songs.

What I want to look at tonight is two small excerpts from two totally different songs, "Windows Of Thy Grace" (Red Mountain Music) and "I Know The Plans" (Waterdeep).

From "Windows of Thy Grace" ---

Haste my Beloved and remove,
These interposing days, interposing days;
Then shall my passions all be love,
And all my powers be praise, all my powers be praise.

From "I Know The Plans" ---

I know the plans I have for you
I know the things that I want for you to do
I know the plans I have for you
And it hurts sometimes to see you blind

The first excerpt gets me every time I hear it - no wonder the song finished #17 on my top 50 hymns list. I'm often not sure how well I know myself, but one thing I know for sure is that I'm a very passionate person, and it shows. I get fired up for sports like few in this world do and like few should. And there are plenty of other examples. But what I want to do as I write tonight (and if there are any readers, perhaps you could do the same) is to imagine what we would be like if all our passions all became love. What a beautiful line by Isaac Watts here... the same guy who wrote "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," which we sang today in Easter service. The stanza cries out for God to remove the interposing days and that all passions be love and all powers be praise in our lives. This is a fallen world we live in; I see it every day in my own life unfortunately. But the thought of all my passions being love and all my powers being praise gets me excited. It should be like that some day! And I certainly should see more of that now. This song gets me not only yearning for the day that I'll be with Christ and out of my sinful body, but it gets me thinking about all the things I use my passions and powers on today that I shouldn't. Of course, then that gets me to thinking that God probably had a design for each and every unique thing about my person and personality, and he means for me to use them for the glory of God. And I often don't... bringing me to the next song excerpt, this one from a Waterdeep song way back in the day.

Of course this chorus comes from Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And I fully believe that. But this song puts a light on that verse that I haven't always heard. Link to the full song lyrics This song brings up a few examples of people not using their passions for love and powers for praise and reminds me that God does have a plan for us and does have things he wants us to do, yet it probably hurts him to see us blind and disappointed when things don't turn out the way we want them to. When I hear this song (and I have a lot lately), I am reminded that there are a lot of things God wants me to be doing that I'm not and a lot of things that I am doing that he probably wouldn't want me to. It convicts me. God has a plan for all of us, myself included, and I think we miss out on great and glorious moments in this life when we choose the wide and easy path rather than the narrow one. It's something to think about anyway. And that's why I write. Hopefully I'll get myself thinking and changing and hopefully I can help get you thinking. Until next time...Happy Easter!