Coldplay is one of my favorite bands.
I love going swimming in their lyrical melodies. When I listen to Coldplay, I get lost in emotion. Their music, their words, resonate with my heart. And many of their songs have specific memories and feelings attached to them; they hold significance in my life.
But recently when I’ve been listening to their music, I’ve heard God speaking into my life, I’ve heard His voice behind the words instead of Chris Martin’s voice.
God knows me and He knows my heart, better than I do. And He knew just how to speak to me through a song by Coldplay that holds so much significance in my life. He redeemed the lyrics of the song and gave them an entirely new meaning… And He did it using my brother and team mate, Kyle.
One night last month, Kyle walked into the hostel room that my teammate Kristen and I were sharing for the month. He told us that he was listening to a song the previous day and God told him to share the song with each of us. He followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit, as a bold and obedient servant. I am so glad he did.
Kyle gave me the earbuds to listen to the song first; he didn’t tell me what it was. Whenever Kyle shares something with me that the Lord has put on his heart to share, it’s always been powerful… but I was not prepared for what happened next…
The song began to play, and within seconds I recognized the song, “Fix You” by Coldplay…and I immediately burst into tears. Big baby bawling sobs, my body was racked with emotion, I curled up into the fetal position and the Holy Spirit moved through me, healing hurts, and soothing me crushed spirit with His loving, tender, and whole Spirit. I was broken and laid bare before my brother, sister, myself, and God.
Kyle had no idea that a lot of my life and emotions of the past three years were wrapped up in this song. He had no idea what power and expressions the words held in my life. BUT GOD DID. And He used Kyle and the song as a vessel to share the message that He had for me. The version of the song that Kyle played was a cover of “Fix You”, adapted by a Christian worship team, Worshipmob. They sang the lyrics from Christ’s perspective speaking to broken people. It was just what I needed.
Kyle and Kristen prayed over me as they witnessed the Holy Spirit at work in me…. Afterwards, as I continued to take it all in, Kyle shared the same song with Kristen. It touched her life as well, and the Holy Spirit manifested Himself in her healing through Holy Spirit laughter – the kind of laughter that bubbles over, that you can’t control, that can only come through Him.
God used a secular song to rock my world, and the Holy Spirit rocked me in His loving arms that night. I was saved by Jesus, curled up in my Abba’s lap. After Kyle shared that song that night, I knew the Holy Spirit had begun healing in my heart. I stopped having the bad dreams that I had been having weekly which caused me to wake up feeling lost, alone, and empty. My mind ceased to be consumed with thoughts and feelings that were tearing me apart, keeping me from being present with where God had placed me and His plan in my life. God answered prayers that I hadn’t even voiced, but He knew the needs of my spirit.
Coldplay’s song, ‘FIX YOU’, adapted by Worshipmob
And then a few weeks later, God did it again. I had been listening to the song “Say Something” by A Great Big World, quite often in the past few days. It struck a chord with my emotions and thoughts, things I was dealing with inside of me. So I sought out its melodies that confirmed what I felt.
…I was coming back to the hostel from a lunch date with one of my squad mates and my teammate Kristen told me she had a song to share with me. She handed me one of her earbuds, and we laid next to each other, letting the music wash over us. It was the song “Say Something” adapted/covered by Worshipmob – the same group that had covered Coldplay’s song, “Fix You”. I knew it was no mistake.
God took two secular songs that I had been clinging to, consumed with earthly relational concerns and struggles, and He spoke to me through them. He took mere human words and replaced them with His absolute truth. He took the meaning of the songs and redeemed them and me spiritually. OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD.
A Great Big World’s song, “Say Something”, adapted by Worshipmob
God created everything in this world, He is a part of it all… In everything, He wants to be given glory and honor. GOD WANTS YOU TO HEAR HIS VOICE and SEE HIS HAND AT WORK in EVERYTHING that YOU EXPERIENCE IN LIFE.
God is relentlessly pursuing a relationship with you and He will go down any path to find you. He knows how you tick, He knows what you think, He knows how your process and how you perceive the world. HE KNOWS YOU.
God knows just what you need to hear today. He knows what is troubling your heart, what consumes your mind. And if you open up your ears to listen God’s going to share His truth with you through nature, people, books, situations, pictures, secular music… in ways that you would never expect.
