Music Mondays

It is freezing cold outside right now in Northern Indiana and we got our first legitimate snow overnight - and are expecting more this evening.

It's times like this I like to daydream about summer, laying out at the beach while soaking in the hot sun. I like to imagine swimming, although as a guy in my 30's I don't do it with the same enthusiasm as when I was a kid. What I do find enjoyable these days is swimming in the ocean or Lake Michigan when the wind and/or boats are creating waves and choppy seas.

This summer I had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines on a missions trip. I documented the trip on this blog and detailed how we used basketball to share the gospel. One afternoon, when we had some free time, we visited a beach near Subic Bay. It was a super-humid day, as most are. I remember the water was warm and it also happened to be fairly windy so the waves were pretty good size. 

A couple times as we were jumping into the waves, I would rise up out of the water to get my bearings and get knocked over by another one I didn't see coming. A couple times it almost knocked the wind out of me, but it was a lot of fun.

What does that have to do with music? 

Well, shortly after returning home, I heard this song and it took me back to that day on the beach and getting momentarily bowled over by the water. And as this song pictures God's love unrelentingly coming at us, I thought about how God's love should affect my soul with the same force that those waves affected my body. 

There is more to this special song as it exalts God and His love and then expresses how that strengthens us and gives us courage. I'm pretty sure any time I hear this song I'll think of the Philippines and likewise any time I get crushed by a wave, I'll think of this song.

One final note: if I'm ever unmoved by the lyrics "You are for us, You are not against us" - if that doesn't wreck my spirit at it's core - I will know I have some serious issues with my heart. What a truth: that we undeserving people have been graciously made His.