Today’s “music discovery” is going to take on a little bit of a different format because the blog post I am sharing with you is somewhat of a testimony.
After writing an entire blog post about a pop song because I was too afraid to share what I really wanted to, my mind jumped to a thought. This thought has been occupying my mind for quite a while now. Perhaps it is a controversial thought.
Before I start sharing, I’m going to put out a disclaimer for those who get uncomfortable discussing religion, beliefs and controversial societal norms.
Dear reader, I’m sharing this with you today in the hope that one of you reading this have perhaps been battling with a similar question.
The past few weeks I have been struggling with limitations. Limitations that I have brought upon myself and limitations that have grown over the years because of everything I was exposed to whilst growing up (a.k.a. society’s judgemental image of perfection).
These limitations have recently come to light to me. I have slowly started to see patterns of sabotage within myself and I have decided it needs to stop.
Upon discovering that I have certain fears and rules in place that have been keeping me from doing what I love (doing what I am here to do), I began asking “why?”. Why do these fears exist? Why do I keep myself from growing and experiencing?
I was asking these questions not really expecting to find an answer. Or perhaps, if I did find the answer, I wasn’t expecting it to come to me so soon.
But on Sunday (16 May 2021) I sat down to spend time with God and all my questions from the past few weeks were answered.
The sermon I was listening to was called “Unlearn your limitations” from Elevation with Steven Furtick. The entire podcast episode was based around Mark 2. The basic message from the sermon was that there are 2 kinds of roofs. The first kind is the actual roof of a building. The second is the teachers of religious law. Both are there to protect something that is precious or important to them, so they set up rules/boundaries.
The moment that answered all my questions was when Steve Furtick was talking about his experience when writing “Talking to Jesus” (a worship song).
Worship songs are usually written in a certain way in order to be accessible to everyone listening to it or singing along. So, songwriters tend to leave out details that would only pertain to a handful of people.
The example that Furtick uses is this lyric: “Mama used to drag me to church Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, khaki pants and a polo shirt…”
Not everyone wears khaki pants. Not everyone goes to church on both Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. But while Steven Furtick was writing this worship song, he realized that this idea of “not everyone…” came from his own rules.
He was writing this worship song using his own rules “for how God moves in worship”. These rules “were trying to restrict the expression that God wanted [them] to bring”. He continues to explain that those rules were there for a reason. The same reason why roofs exist.
The same reason why the teachers of religious law were there in Mark 2.
But sometimes things that were there to preserve something (like how God moves in Worship therefor there are rules for how to write a worship song) begins to prevent something.
These rules Furtick mentioned, was starting to prevent him from sharing about God in worship songs.
And that’s when it clicked.
Worshipping isn’t about the rules of how to write a worship song or about whether you can relate to wearing khaki pants. Worshipping is about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Worshipping is about celebrating the Lord.
We all have those fears or rules we’ve created in order to keep us safe. In order to avoid conflict and controversy. But what we forget is that all of those fears and rules stop preserving and starts preventing.
“Don’t let something that God gave you in one season of your life to protect you, become something in the next season of your life that prevents you.”
Because I have decided not to let the fears for society’s judgement and society’s rules decide what I should speak about and share, I am sharing this realization with you. I am sharing this message with you.
As a Christian, I am to share the word of God with anyone and everyone.
So, dear reader, may we stop trying to push against what God wants us to be. He wants you to be all that He created you to be.
Today marks day one of me pushing past the rules preventing me from being the best I can be.
Are you joining me?
To listen to the podcast episode, click ..
To listen to the song that made me open my eyes, click here.
Lyrics:
Grandma used to pray out loud By her bed every night To me, it sounded like mumbling Like she was out of her mind
She said, "Boy, this kind of praying Is what saved my life You outta try it some time" And now I know she was right
She was talking to Jesus She was talking to Jesus She'd been talking to Jesus For all of her life
Mama used to drag me to church Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights Khaki pants and a polo shirt Boy, I put up a fight
She said, "Son, one day you'll thank me For having God in your life" And yeah I know she was right Yeah my mama was right
'Cause now I'm talking to Jesus She got me talking to Jesus She got me talking to Jesus Yeah my mama was right
'Cause now I'm talking to Jesus Yeah I love talking to Jesus And I'll be talking to Jesus
For the rest of my life
What a friend we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus Don't you know
What a friend we have in Jesus Oh-oh-oh, what a friend we have
What a friend we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus Oh-oh-oh
I've got 3 of my own now Trying to raise them up right My oldest is fifteen
And I remember what that was like Trying to deal with the drama Trying to figure out the questions in life
And I've been looking for a way to show him How to make it alright
Then He walked in my room While I was saying my prayers the other night He said, "I'll come back later I can tell you got a lot on your mind" I said it's not an interruption You couldn't have picked a better time
'Cause I was just talking to Jesus Come over and give it a try
We started talking to Jesus We started talking to Jesus We started talking to Jesus Oh-oh-oh
And now He's talking to Jesus Thank God He's talking to Jesus I hope He's talking to Jesus For the rest of his life, yeah
What a friend we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus Oh-oh-oh, what a friend we have
What a friend we have in Jesus (aren't you glad we have a friend?) What a friend we have in Jesus (none more thankful, none more true) What a friend we have in Jesus Oh-oh-oh
There's no wrong way to do it There's no bad time to start
It don't have to sound pretty Just tell Him what's on your heart 'Cause it's not a religion 'Cause it's more like a friendship Just talk to your Father Like you are his kid
Just start talking to Jesus Just start talking to Jesus You can talk to Jesus Oh, whenever you like
Just start talking to Jesus Just start talking to Jesus Just keep talking to Jesus For the rest of your life
Oh, just talk, oh-oh Just talk, just talk, just talk to Jesus
What a friend we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus What a friend we have in Jesus Oh-oh-oh, what a friend we have
Yorumlar