Hearing the Music

Lots of Secret Threads

It is an absolute pleasure to engage with a lot of Michigan during my week. My work as a civil engineer sends me to the tops of buildings, the undersides of bridges, and even the bottoms of lakes. Often, I sit at a desk surrounded by co-workers, but during the summer I spend a lot of time out somewhere in God’s creation, searching for storm water solutions or working to make the ideas my company imagined into realities. There are many days when psalms spring to mind, bidden by Michigan’s beautiful nature around me. 

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 8:3-6 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,

Although there are days when this job takes me somewhere beautiful, there is a better chance I will end up somewhere dirty, smelly, and/or dark. I have spent hours underwater in complete darkness beneath failing bridges (I got very tangled once, too! Ask me about it at church sometime). Those seemingly worse days of office drudgery or in a literal slimy pit have been turned to joy by the knowledge that God has called me to His work and by the pure excitement of working in God’s creation. Being able to participate in His world is an absolute joy, honor, and privilege. For me, this sometimes means getting impressively muddy or covered in poison ivy. I love it dearly. 

C. S. Lewis, near the end of his book The Problem Of Pain states, “You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words: but most of your friends do not see it at all, and often wonder why, liking this, you should also like that.” Over the years I have tried to better understand my “secret thread.” My love of problem-solving and nature have been good hints. Lewis makes the argument later in the book that God instills this uniqueness in us so we might have something to help us specifically glorify God. I am yet learning what my secret thread is and will never be able to fit it into earthly words. For now, I can say my thread exists between the designing and planning of gifted humans and God’s good creation.

I have been reminded often of this "secret thread" as we spend this season listening to guest pastors speak on scripture “etched on their hearts.” I have been grateful for receiving scriptural teaching on topics close to the speaker’s heart. It is exciting to see the unique ways God calls us to participate with Him.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Colossians 3:23 is probably the scripture etched dearest on my heart. My work and most of my hobbies are practical. I am blessed to easily relate the understanding of my secret thread to the things that I do. But whatever you do, the work is for the Lord! God has prepared works for you to do so you can use who you are to uniquely worship Him. Whatever you do, whatever your specific and wonderful gifts are, they are for the Lord. Someday, that ineffable secret thread that drives your passions will be realized in your unique relationship with our Creator. 

Often at Christ Church I am moved by our united voices and purpose. The world has given many reasons to be divided, and we sometimes create our own. We all have our own busyness, stress, and distractions. However, when we sing or read the scripture together in church, I sometimes look out and imagine all the specific and beautiful secret threads that connect us to God, woven together to glorify God. This leaves me in awe of His power and love and filled with hope for His work that He can do through us. 

Psalm 111:2-3 Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. 

Finding Joy in Worship

Some of my greatest moments of joy come from worshipping regularly with God’s people right here in my home church. I am often struck by the thought, early in the time of worship, perhaps in a song, a prayer, or a word of Scripture— “Yes, this is the truth, this is what is real, this is what I believe deep down in my soul.” I am moved by the music, touched by a prayer, exhorted by the Scripture, surprised again by the gospel, met by Christ at the Lord’s Table. And once again, joy floods my heart. 

There are many voices in our culture calling for our attention, with claims of what is important in life. We need to come aside often, with God’s people, to give attention to God’s voice, to be reminded of what is real, what is the truth. And as we come together for worship we have the opportunity to hear the voice of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. “My sheep will listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” To hear that voice is pure joy. His voice is true and caring and strong. “No one can snatch them out of my hand.” 

As we come together this Sunday for joyful worship, may we be reassured and strengthened in our faith, in what we believe and know to be the truth. We might enter with sagging spirits, with withering faith. But in joyful worship, our hearts are lifted, our doubts and fears are quieted. “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Joyful worship awakens our senses, energizes our mind and body. We come to experience the presence of the living God. 

As Christians, we believe that worship is our highest calling, our greatest expression of faith, as we “ascribe to the Lord the glory that is due his name.” In doing so, we are lifted up to the highest level of what it means to be human. This is what we were made for. We will never do a more noble act than lifting our hearts to worship God in spirit and in truth. And therefore, worship is also our supreme joy. It is immensely liberating to express our joy in thanksgiving, praise, and adoration, with music and singing, to the living God.

Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

What's Etched on Your Heart?

Each week this summer we are privileged to hear from a pastor regarding a scripture that God “etched on his heart” – a personal testimony of sorts. But what about you, what about me? What has God etched on our hearts? What story would we tell if asked to bring the message on a Sunday morning?

In 1973, I was a newlywed, plucked (quite willingly) from everything familiar. Two thousand miles from home, I was just married and attending a huge, secular university. In many ways, my life was upended. God knew what I needed.  In His mercy I was invited to a Navigators 2:7 Bible study. The focus was discipleship, Bible application and scripture memory. It was a wonderful study in which I was challenged and encouraged. But the final assignment was more of a challenge that I wanted. All participants were to write their personal testimonies, basically telling how God had etched His Word on their hearts. What could I possibly have to say? Four year earlier, I had made a profession of faith. I had a lot of head knowledge but what was etched on my heart? I was naïve and spiritually immature. Despite that, I made a profession, heard God’s promises to me and spoke mine to Him. But now it was time to write my personal testimony and I was certain I had nothing to say. I had heard other testimonies and mine was nothing like those.

Don’t we all love to hear a "good" testimony or hear someone tell of a miraculous faith experience? Have you heard the one about the Vietnamese prisoner who was cleaning latrines and found a very soiled copy of Romans 8:28 in the latrine trash? His captors had been using the pages of a Bible as toilet paper. Only the night before he had given up on God and declared himself an atheist. Finding that page changed his life and restored his faith. Now that’s a miraculous faith story! Christ Church women recently worked through a study of the book of Jude by Jackie Hill Perry. Jackie had chosen to turn her back on God in every way, but He pursued her. One night, seemingly out of the blue, a thought came to her mind about her lifestyle. It wasn’t audible, but she knew it was God. She began to read the Bible. In those personal quiet times without a church, a pastor or a friend, God saved her and changed her life forever. What a story! This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost. Few of us would have a testimony apart from what happened that day. What would have been etched on your heart if you were in the crowd that day and heard Peter proclaiming the gospel in your own language?

What is etched on your heart? What is your story? Is it like Hien’s, the Vietnamese prisoner of war, or Jackie Hill Perry’s? I don’t recall what I wrote in that first testimony, but I do know some of what I would write now. It might not read like Hien’s or Jackie’s, but it’s no less spectacular and no less miraculous. Like them, I was lost and now I’m found. Romans 8 says that God foreknew me, He predestined me to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, He called me, He justified and glorified me, just like Hien and Jackie. Hadn't God been calling me to Himself in my early years in a Christian home, school and church? Definitely. I believe He heard and received my feeble profession at seventeen, not because of my sincerity or even my understanding of what I was doing, but because He had called me first.  

One of the verses He has etched on my heart is Psalm 63:8, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” For so long, I lived as though it was up to me to cling to Him, but instead He was upholding me all along. As I was clinging, He put wonderful believers in my life. He provided gospel-preaching churches, faithful parents and grandparents, a godly husband, excellent Bible studies, great books on faith and theology, many joys and plenty of sorrows. He continued to love me and has been faithful in the face of my sin. By His Word and His Spirit He is changing me into His likeness. The process is much slower than I would like. There have been detours, roadblocks, back-sliding, disappointments and doubts. But I have learned that “I sought the Lord and afterward I knew, He moved my soul to seek Him seeking me.” Now that’s a story! What about you?

Photo by Chandan Chaurasia on Unsplash