Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Take Heart!

Life. It's a roller-coaster, isn't it? The good, the bad. The pretty, the ugly. The joy, the heartbreak. The simple, the complicated.

Most of the time, I think we find ourselves caught somewhere in between. At least I do, anyway. We spend our time consumed with escaping one end of the spectrum and pursuing the other, and yet most of the moments that make up our existence are found somewhere in between. In all this 'in between,' however, it can sometimes feel like we're being torn in two between the two extremes, and all the shuffling around and back-and-forth makes life a little more difficult than we'd like at times. A little more complicated when we'd prefer it simple. A little more painful when we'd prefer it happy. A little more outer conflict or inner turmoil when we'd just simply prefer a peace.

I'm certainly not a super huge Aaron Shust fan. I mean, I like the guy and all, but I've never really fallen in love with his music. Case in point: I won his CD about a month back and just got around to opening it up and playing it for the first time a couple days ago. And, timely enough, on track number ten I found just the prayer that I needed to help express the aforementioned inner turmoil that has found me in this 'in between' of life. I've had the song on repeat for at least two days now.

Breathe in me, breath of God.
Mend in me, this wounded heart,
That I may know You've made Your peace with me.


Music has never failed to bring words to my emotions at just the right moment. But in the middle of one of the most difficult days I've had in the midst of this tumultuous in between stage that I'm currently facing, I experienced something I don't think I've ever quite experienced before. Something altogether more powerful than any fitting, human-constructed lyric or melody.

I received a Word.

I was brushing my teeth, mind completely lost on something far from my life circumstances, when suddenly, completely out of nowhere, the words "In this world...I have overcome the world" came to mind. Though already running late for class, I did a quick glossary search for the word "overcome" in the back of my Bible and found John 16:33 -


"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. BUT TAKE HEART! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD."



Even in the chaos and confusion, life doesn't get any better than that.